Betrayal
by Diva'sDream
Summary: Please be kind my first Digimon fanficHe offered me a slice of his empire if I’d help him defeat the other digidestined. I’m such an idiot to have accepted... Yay! Chpt. 30 is UP! FINISHED!
1. Second Thoughts

Betrayal

By: Diva'sDream

Rated: PG-13 for language and violence (in later chapters)

Category: Action/Adventure/Drama

Disclaimer: Ah, you guys know the drill. I don't own "Digimon" and all that, yada yada yada...

Summary: He offered me a slice of his empire if I'd help him defeat the other digidestined. I'm such an idiot to have accepted. But hey, it wasn't until I saw first-hand the pain he brings to all the poor digimon that I understood that he was the evil one here, and now I must set right what I've helped to make so wrong...

(A/N: This is about a new digidestined. We won't go into detail about which digiegg she has and all that, but for the sake of the story, let's just say that she is a digidestined, okay?)

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The sound of his yelling awakened me from the mid-day nap I had been taking. I got up quickly and walked over to the monitors so that he wouldn't find out I'd been napping on the job when I was supposed to have been keeping a look out for intruders while he was gone. I made it just in time as he walked through the door.

He threw his arms up in the air in emphasis as he walked. "How could those stupid kids have defeated me so easily?! My plan was foolproof!" Ken, the Digimon Emperor, shouted as he planted himself gracefully in this chair. As soon as he got himself situated, he absentmindedly started to toy with his whip as he usually does when he gets angry.

'Oh no, he's in one of his moods again,' I thought to myself as I sighed and approached him slightly. "Rough day?" I asked, making sure to stay out of Ken's striking range should he decide to lash out at me, which he probably will if I just so happen to push him too far again. I tend to do that a lot; good thing I can get away from him easily.

"What the hell do you think, girl," he said to me sarcastically. It was obvious that he was not in the mood for any idle chitchat. But, none of that caught my attention just then. Only one thing he'd said had, which I should've known to not shoot back an insult to him about, but then again, I've never been really good at thinking before I open my big mouth in the first place.

"Excuse me?! I have a name, you know! Crystal, remember?! And I'd appreciate it if you'd use it instead of just calling me 'Girl'!" I told him sharply, which only seemed to irritate him even more. This just goes to show that I really needed to learn how to keep my big mouth shut. I quickly clapped a hand over my mouth in surprise.

He turned then and fixed his famous icy glare on me. "I believe I can call you anything I want." Now, I know a warning when I get one, and that was definitely a warning. I may be a genius, but it sure doesn't take one to figure that out. So, I decided that the best thing for me to do was to simply...get the hell out of the room! I quickly did so and didn't slow down until I was safely in my room at the other end of the long hallway.

'Ya know, I'm starting to have second thoughts about whether or not it's such a good idea to be near him,' I thought to myself as I sat down on my bed, sighing with relief that he hadn't followed me this time. The last time this happened, he did and things got pretty damn ugly, pretty damn fast.

'Then again, I'm also starting to have second thought about whether or not helping him to take over such a large part of the Digital World,' I then reminded myself. Ya see, nowadays, I'm not so sure anymore. When I first found out that I was a digidestined and went to the Digital World for the first time, I didn't know whom Ken really was, so I thought that he was the good guy here. But now, I'm quite as convinced about that as I was a while ago.

For some reason, I keep thinking that this isn't a good situation that I've gotten myself into and that, maybe, if I got away from here and found the digidestined that I'd seen on the Emperor's monitors so many times, then maybe I'd be better off with them. Maybe it'd be better to join forces with them instead of Ken, especially since what I'm doing right now just never seemed right to me in the first place...

"Well, for now," I sighed in profundity, "all I can do is just continue with what I'm doing and see what happens. Who knows, maybe I'll get away from here and join the digidestined someday. It could happen, and if Ken starts to get a bit more dangerous to me and I start to feel that he is threatening my life, I'd have to get away. Oh well, we'll see..."

As I began to stand up, I looked up in surprise as the doorknob to my bedroom door turned slowly and began to open. 'Oh God! He's heard me!' my mind screamed as the door opened all the way. I gasped in surprise as I saw who was on the other side of it, my eyes wide with fear!

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A/N: I'm sorry guys; I couldn't help but leave it there. I know, I hate cliffhangers too but... Hey, are you guys happy now?! I took out all of that crap about her having a troubled past. I hope now you're satisfied. I'll continue soon! That is, if you guys like it.

Digimon Emperor: I like it so far.

Me: Well no shit, Sherlock! It's making you sound all high and mighty and tough, which I bet you'd so not be in a life-or-death situation that endangered YOUR life!

Digimon Emperor: (Makes REALLY pissed off face as he reaches for his whip)

Me: Ah chill, Mr. Attitude! I was just trying to have so fun!

Ahem, anyways, like I was saying BEFORE I WAS SO RUDELY INDERRUPTED... (Digimon Emperor sticks out tongue and I throw a book at his head—direct hit!) Anyways...NO FLAMES PLEASE!!! I did the best I could. Constructive criticism welcome if it's in a nice way, NOT if it sound more like a flame than constructive criticism. Well, I think I'd better shut up now and get on with the story. Please R&R! Buh-bye! !!!


	2. Round Two!

'Oh God! He's heard me!' my mind screamed as the door opened all the way. I gasped in surprise as I saw who was on the other side of it, my eyes wide with fear! And then. Just as quickly as it had come, my fear subsided as Wormmon came through the door. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw him.

At seeing my reaction, Wormmon looked at me with concern. "I'm sorry, Crystal. I didn't mean to frighten you," he apologized quickly as he lowered his gaze to the floor. I got up from my bed and knelt down in front of him.

"Oh no, Wormmon, no need to apologize. I'm just a little jumpy, that's all. It not your fault in any way," I assured him as I lifted his head up to face me gently. At this, Wormmon smiled kindly.

"Hey, how much of what I was saying did you hear?" I asked out of curiosity.

"I didn't here anything," he assured me, and then he went on to tell me what he had come to tell me. "Master has sent me to fetch you for dinner, Crystal. I'd be careful if I were you. He's still not in a good mood at all," he warned me, which I'd really be surprised if he hadn't. He's always watching out for me like that.

"Okay. What is it tonight?" I asked him as we go out the door and start to walk towards the dining room, silently hoping that Wormmon wasn't about to say—

"Sushi."

Yeah, that. Ewww...I hate sushi! But, unfortunately, Ken always insists that I have whatever he's having that night. Oh well, suck it up, Crystal!

I made a face to show my dislike for it, but then quickly replaced it with a docile stare as we entered the dining room and I took my place at the other end of the long table, opposite Ken.

We dined in silence for most of the time, as is what it's usually like when Ken's in one of his moods. I ate my sushi, without complaint and trying very hard not to do something to irritate Ken, like making disgusted faces or gagging. I still hadn't gotten the hang of eating with chopsticks. Hey, what'd you expect; I'm an American girl, not Japanese.

I tried to keep my mind off of the sushi (not to mention the fact that eating with chopsticks seemed impossible for me) with some unanswered questions I've had for a while now...

Why is he trying to take over the Digital World anyway? What does he think gives him the right to take over? How can a kid, who is supposed to be so damn smart, think that this is all a game and not believe otherwise, no matter how much proof he gets or how many times others try to tell him that it's not—?

"Is something bothering you?"

With a small flinch and a blink, I realized that I'd been pushing the remaining sushi around on my plate with my chopsticks absentmindedly and looked up from my plate at the Emperor, who was now staring at me as though I were his entertainment for the night. "Oh no, just thinking," I answered him truthfully.

"Really? About what?" he pressed on, obviously suspicious. He knew me too well by then to know that it's usually involving him in some way when I act like this, and that it's usually never anything good for him.

"Stuff," I simply replied, lowering my gaze to my plate, not wanting to look at him. I didn't want to tell him what I was really thinking, didn't even wanna have a conversation with him at the moment. And he'd know if I'd lied to him. He always knows. But my answer wasn't exactly lying, was it?

Ken was still eyeing me suspiciously. "What kind of 'stuff'?" The tone of his voice had changed. He seemed slightly irritated now, which usually meant that I'd better careful. If I irritate him even more, I could be facing some serious problems in the very near future.

"Just...stuff." Okay, okay, so maybe that wasn't the best thing to reply with. But, hey, it was the only thing I could think of to say! To bad the only thing I could think of to say made him even more irritated.

Ken's calm expression suddenly twisted into his famous death glare as he sat there, staring at me. "There's something you're hiding me. I demand you tell me at once!" That did it. He was clearly not in a good position to be angered further.

But, of course with me and my big mouth, I didn't exactly notice that soon enough. See, he had exasperated me as well, and I let him know it. Before I could stop myself, I shouted back at him, "Read my lips, mind your own damn business! M.y.o.b.!" (Oy! Here we go—round two!)

And with that, got up and stalked out of the room, leaving a very angry Digimon Emperor behind, his whip ready in his hand. I didn't here any noise as I closed and locked the door to my room. Ken was probably totally pissed off by now.

The rest of the night was basically a normal night after a big showdown between Ken and I. Everything was quiet, meaning that Ken had probably gone to his room to calm down. Nobody talked to anybody else for the rest of the night. Even the slaves had retreated for the night. All was still and silent.

I just went about my normal night, determined not to let the argument at dinner get to me. I mean it's not like it's the first time it's happened. We've had major fights a couple times before. It's nothing new.

But only one thing kept coming to my mind. I kept getting bothered by the fact that all the other times I've made Ken this angry, he's basically always come after me later on. I mean, take the last time for example...

We'd fought over him trying to control me, which he still hasn't been able to do completely. After the fight, he came after me the next day when I was taking a walk outside and was about to beat up on me when those digidestined came in and he got distracted with them. Afterwards, he'd forgotten all about it, or at least he'd decided not to act on it. I highly doubt that he'd forgotten.

'But, oh well,' I thought to myself with a yawn as I climbed into bed. 'I'm sure I can take whatever he dishes out.' And with that, my eyelids became heavy and I fell asleep, completely worn out from thinking about it so much...

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A/N: Okay, there's chapter 2. I hope you liked it. I know I enjoyed writing it—

Digimon Emperor: (Raises his hand) I did!

Ya, ya, we know. Now shut up, Ken.

Digimon Emperor: Hey! How many times to I have to tell you to not call me that!

Okay, okay, sorry Mr. Attitude!

Digimon Emperor: (Death glare)

(Ignores him) Okay, anyway...As I was saying, please R&R. If you liked it, that's great. If you thought it was good but you've got some tips for me to make it better, that's all right, too. If you didn't like it and you just wanna flame me, THEN SCREW YOU! As I said before, absolutely NO flames. Constructive criticism is all right, just as long as it doesn't sound too much like a flame.

All right, now that I'm done ranting, I'll get on with chapter 3 so those of you that DO like the story won't try to kill me for not continuing soon. See ya later, buh-bye!


	3. Dear Diary

Sunlight poured into my room. As I opened my eyes slowly, I saw a familiar face. It was the poster I had put on the ceiling over my bed, just so I could wake up every morning to Stewart Townsend's gorgeous face.

(Me: Really? I want one! Stewart's, like, the hottest guy on this Earth!) I sat up in bed and stretched my arms out, trying to wake myself up. Then, I got out of bed and fixed myself up for the day, the thought of being extra careful around Ken today going through my mind over and over again, even as I brushed my teeth in the bathroom I had attached to my room.

As soon as I was ready, I was about to go outside but suddenly stopped. I took a look at the clock. It was around 9 o'clock in the morning, meaning Ken was probably eating breakfast right now. With that in mind, I decided to just wait in my room for a while longer before going out.

I decided to just sit on my bed and do something, so I sat down and thought about it for a minute. Then an idea came to me and I reached under my mattress for my diary. I opened to the next available page and took out my pen, chewing on the cap as I thought about what I wanted to write and then started once I had my idea...

"Dear Diary,

"I really don't know what to think anymore. Should I stay...or should I think about getting out of here? Everyday, it seems that Ken is getting more violent. He started to hurt me about two or three months ago. He's never hurt me before then, and it's facts such as this that make me wonder whether I should remain on his side or not.

"I don't know. I mean...I'm starting to get the feeling that I'm not the only one he's doing this to...that maybe he's not the person I thought he was. And I have a way to find out. Today, when he's watching over those digimon he made into his slaves, I'll sneak out of the fortress and watch how he treats them.

"Yes, yes Diary, I do know what will happen if I'm caught. I know that Ken told me never to spy on him or to be anywhere near where the slaves were. But since he's forbidden me to do these things, I know there's something he's hiding from me and I'm gonna find out what it is. I don't care anymore that I'm gonna get the shit beaten out of me if I get caught. I just have to know.

"Although I may sound brave about this, I do hope he doesn't find me, though. If he does, you can be sure that all hell will break loose. If Ken finds me, it's gonna be WWIII in the fortress tonight!

"But...although I know very well what he is capable of doing if he finds me, I have to do this. If I find something wrong with the way he's treating other creatures, I'll know for sure that it's time for me to switch sides.

"But for now, I'll just have to see how things get. I'm afraid that angered Ken again last night and he will certainly be out to make me pay for my 'insolence' at any time now. But rest assured, Diary, in knowing that I'll be alright. Nothing he's capable of doing will be enough to conquer me.

"Oh well. I'll write again soon. But until then, see ya next time, Diary. Buh-bye!

"Crystal"

I put my pen down and took a minute to look over what I'd written. As soon as I finished I automatically told myself, 'Oops. Better not let Ken ever see this book." That was probably for the best, or at least that's what I'd decided.

I looked at the clock again to check the time. 10:34—Ken was probably in his control room working by now. I decided that right then might be a good time to go get something to eat for breakfast.

As I slowly opened my door, I peeked my head out into the hallway to make sure the coast was clear before tiptoeing out, closing the door silently behind me. I tried to be as quiet as I could as I snuck down the long corridor towards the kitchen.

I suddenly stopped as I came to an opened door, making sure not to be where anyone inside could see me. It was Ken's control room. I slowly, cautiously looked around the corner inside the room. Just as I thought, there was Ken, typing away on his computer, staring contentedly at the monitors.

My heart and respiratory rate increased. I began to shake ever so slightly. Could I really sneak right on by without him noticing me? Of course not! Ken notices everything that goes on around here. He'd probably be on top of me before I could round the corner on the other side of the hallway, just steps beyond the control room door.

But, then again, he did seem rather caught up in his work at the moment. Maybe he wouldn't notice me. I mean, all I'd have to do is simply just tiptoe by and I think I'd be practically home free. I should at least try it; I'm so hungry.

At that thought, my mind was made up. With as much stealth and secrecy as I could muster, I snuck passed the door and rounded the corner. 'So far so good,' I thought with a sigh of relief as I looked back around the corner I'd just gone around. "He doesn't seem to have noticed me."

And, with that being accomplished, I made my way to the kitchen. To get there, I had to go through the dining room. As I walked in, my eyes fell upon something suspicious. There was a bowl of my favorite cereal at my usual place at the table with a card next to it, on which was my name written in Ken's handwriting.

As I stepped over to the sight, something in my head told me that this wasn't right. This isn't like Ken, to be so nice and fix me my breakfast for me. This whole scenario seemed strangely familiar to me. I stopped in mid-stride and just stood there as I thought about it.

Suddenly, it came to me then. The first time Ken had ever hurt me. He used this same trick to lure me to him. I remember, I'd made him mad just because he was trying to boss me around and I wasn't going to stand for it. I'd gone to my room angry, just as I had last night, and I didn't see Ken until the next morning.

That morning, I'd found the breakfast on the table and assumed that Ken was trying to apologize, but as soon as I reached the table, he showed up. I tried to run away from him, to get to the safety of my room, but I wasn't quick enough. Ken caught me, threw me to the ground and then, started to—

"Well, good morning, Crystal."

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A/N: Well, there's chapter three. I hope you like and, and if you don't, TOO BAD! Advice is welcome. I need help deciding whether I'm going to make Ken just beat her with his whip as usual or what. I'm not sure what I'm gonna go with.

Digimon Emperor: Yes! Finally I get to show that little brat whose boss!

Ah shut up, Kenny Boy!

Digimon Emperor: Don't call me that!

(Sticks out tongue) Get over it, Loser! I know, I'm mean, aren't I? Anyway, please R&R! I'll update soon. Buh-bye people!


	4. Hesitation

"Well, good morning, Crystal."

The words, that voice—the combination of the two immediately sent a chill down my spine. I became frozen on the spot, shaking like a leaf. I thought that I'd be okay, that whatever he could do to me wouldn't be enough to make me submit to him completely, but as I stood there, all that confidence that I'd shown only a few minutes earlier seemed to had disappeared. I was more scared than I'd been in a long time.

I heard his footsteps coming closer as he walked up behind me. 'Run!' my mind screamed, 'Run!' If only my legs would listen. I wanted to get out of there so badly, to run away and find safety, but I couldn't move.

It felt as if my legs had turned to jell-o. I began to breathe even heavier than I'd been a few minutes ago. 'C'mon!' I silently begged myself to move, and after all this was finally about to move when—

"I'm sorry, I must not have heard you. I believe I just told you 'good morning'. Isn't there something you'd like to say back to me?" I felt his hand on my shoulder before I could budge an inch, his fingers quickly closing tightly onto it.

He turned me to face him then, and as he did so, my gaze automatically dropped to the floor, not wanted to have to stare into those chilling eyes of his. "Good morning," I said back to him, trying to make myself sound as calm as possible, even though my mind was saying otherwise.

I flinched slightly as he put his hand under my chin and pushed my head up. While I didn't struggle to get away from him, I simply kept my gaze on the floor, even as my face was tilted upwards towards his. Then, as if he'd just been offended in some way, his hand closed tightly on my chin. "Look at me!" he growled sharply, shaking my head just the slightest bit.

I had no other choice in the matter. Shaking, I lifted my gaze and soon found myself staring straight into Ken's cold, amethyst eyes. He didn't look happy at all in the least. He started off with hardly any emotion showing on his face when I looked at him, but that soon changed a few seconds later.

All of a sudden, his eyes narrowed at me menacingly as his lips suddenly formed a downright angry scowl. Then, in the blink of an eye, I found myself on the ground, only to realize about a second later that he'd backhanded me across the face.

I sat there on the ground for a few seconds, again frozen with fear as he stared down at me. It was only when he took a step towards me that I reacted, crawling backwards in a pathetic attempt to get away from him. But as I crawled back, Ken only kept coming towards me, until I found myself pressed up against the wall, unable to go any further, and, for the first time in my life, feeling completely trapped.

I felt tears welling up in my eyes, stinging them furiously as they threatened to fall. I begged them silently not to, for I hated the idea of finally showing any signs of Ken having power over me, especially after all this time of me being so determined to not let him control me. But, no matter what I did, I found it of no use as the tears ran down my cheeks, then falling to the ground. So much for me being so strong-willed and brave—

"Oh no, Crystal. Don't think you can get out of this one just by crying like the little brat you are. Those tears have no effect on me," he said to me then scornfully, his voice as venomous as ever.

He took something out of his cape then. As soon as I saw what it was, I gasped and quickly twisted myself around so as to expose my back to him instead of, say, my face or my arms, where it would hurt more to be hit. Then, I put my arms in front of my face to protect them even more from Ken's fury.

I stole one quick look back at him and then turned back and closed my eyes as he raised his whip. A second passed, and surprisingly, I felt nothing. I cracked my eyes open slightly and looked back at Ken.

He was still holding his whip in the air, ready to strike at any second, but he had a peculiar expression on his face for a second. He was contemplating on whether what he was about to do was right or not, I could see it in his eyes. I held my breath, praying that he was gonna change his mind.

But then, just as quickly as this newfound hope came to me, it disappeared as his expression changed back to usual. I snapped my head around again as before and braced myself for the pain I knew was to come, my entire body shaking violently by now because of my sheer terror.

I tried so hard not to cry out, not to show any signs of defeat, but it was near impossible. As Ken's whip repeatedly struck me, the tears streamed down my face, and I groaned in immense pain as my back began to feel as though it were on fire.

This went on for about five minutes and then, suddenly, it stopped—not the pain, just the sounds of the whip and that constant striking. I was breathing heavily, trying to handle the seemingly unbearable pain.

A few seconds passed, and I heard no noise from Ken. I turned my head slightly, the movement only seeming to make the pain worse, and looked towards where I'd last seen Ken standing. He wasn't there. I figured he'd left after completely what he'd set out to do, finally leaving me alone...for now.

Finding the strength to walk was extremely difficult, but I finally did and limped back slowly to the safety of my room. As I went back along the dark corridor, one thought went through my head. Ken thought I hadn't noticed the slight hesitation he showed back there, but I did...

He was having doubts about what he was doing, and I knew it. For once in the months that I've known him, he finally had begun to show some signs of compassion. 'Hmm...ya know, maybe I misjudged him. Maybe there is a kind person in there somewhere, just waiting to come out. Is it possible that Ken, the person who calls himself Digimon Emperor, whom I'm starting to think is not the right person to team up with, has some good in him...somewhere?

'No, of course not. Get a grip on yourself, Crystal! That must be the pain talking. I can't let my guard down with him for a second. I think he's dangerous! I should definitely go ahead with my plan to see how he treats the slaves. And if my suspicions are confirmed today, I have no choice but to get the hell out of here and—'

I stopped in my tracks as I came to the open door to his control room once more. I peered around the corner, and immediately noticed him there, again just typing away at his computer. I tried my best to quietly slip past the open doorway and back into my room. Whether he noticed me go by or not, I'm not sure. But he sure didn't follow me this time.

As I reached my room and closed and locked the door, one thing that I'd thought out there fixed itself in my head. One question was stuck in my mind for a long time, and no matter how many times I asked myself that question, I could find no accurate answer for it. 'Is it possible that Ken has some good in him...somewhere?'

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A/N: Well there you go, chapter 4. And, to answer Miguels-Lover's question, Stewart Townsend is an actor. He played Lestat on "Queen of the Damned", which I do have a fanfiction for that movie but nooooooo! They won't let me post a "Queen of the Damned" fanfic. They won't let me—

Digimon Emperor: Ah stop complaining, Diva'sDream. Get over it!

Shut up, idiot! I'm still pissed off at you!

Digimon Emperor: Like I said before, 'get over it'.

(Chucks a really heavy book at his head. Direct hit—again!) Anyways, I'll get started on chapter 5 as soon as I can. Hope you guys like my story so far. Please R&R, and remember, absolutely NO FLAMES once so ever. All flamers who mess with me will find themselves cursed for always and eternity! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha!!!

Digimon Emperor: (Rubbing sore spot on forehead) --...Someone's seen "Holes" one too many times.

And your point is...? (Realizes the reader's still watching her) Oh, uh, buh-bye!


	5. More Sushi!

All I wanted to do was sleep now. I was so exhausted from what had happened just two hours ago, from the severe whipping Ken had given me, from losing as much blood as I did, that all I could bring myself to do was just lay there, asleep. My entire body ached and my back still felt as though a greymon had just hit it with one of its fire attacks.

I knew I was gonna get it when I saw that damn cereal bowl. How the hell did I fall for that trick a second time? I am such an idiot! I knew perfectly well in the back of my mind what was going on, but I just wasn't smart enough to think of it and get the hell out of there when I had the chance—

"Crystal? It's Wormmon. May I come in?"

I heard his voice on the other side of my door, but it took my brain a few seconds to comprehend what was going on. But as soon as I did, I called back, "Sure, c'mon in, Wormmon!" I really didn't want company at the moment but hey, couldn't hurt, could it.

The door opened slowly and the little green caterpillar digimon came in, a sad expression playing itself out on his face. He came up to my bed and stopped when he was right beside it, with me looking down over the edge of the bed at him. He paused for a second before asking, "Are you alright?"

Well, at least someone cares for me. "Yeah, Wormmon. Of course I am." It was a lie, I know, but I didn't wanna worry him by actually admitting that I was in so much pain. I knew he wasn't going to get anything done today if I did; he'd be too concerned about me to get anything done, and then Ken would be really angry again, this time, most likely at Wormmon instead of me.

It was then that I realized that he was carrying something. I must've been more out of it than I'd thought. It took me a few seconds to realize what it was. He was carrying bandages and stuff like that.

He's probably been sent to dress my wounds. ...Or else, ya know, he'd decided to do it without Ken knowing it, which was probably the case. Ken probably didn't want me to have any comfort at the moment and is probably against me being treated, right now at least. Wormmon is so sweet towards me. This is really a stupid thing to do knowing how Ken will probably react, but it's nonetheless very sweet.

"Oh Wormmon, thank you so much. You're the only one around here with a heart," I sighed with relief, but then my thoughts turned more serious. "...But still, you shouldn't be doing this. If Ken finds out—"

"If Ken finds out then oh well," Wormmon only interrupted me, smiling kindly like he always does. "Trust me, I've been through his rages long enough to handle anything he throws my way. I'll be okay, but you should really let me tend to those wounds of yours. Everything's gonna be alright, I promise."

'And you're promises have always been as good as gold, Wormmon,' I thought to myself as the caterpillar-like digimon did as he said he would, being as careful as he could so as not to hurt me, even though it still did sting a little bit as he did it.

Then, as I lay there on my stomach, my head in my folded up arms, a question popped into my head. 'How can such a kind and caring digimon be a partner for such a merciless person, for Ken, the Digimon Emperor? It just doesn't make any sense. How can someone so nice be paired up with someone so cruel and—?'

"There we go; all finished." The sound of Wormmon's voice interrupted me from my thoughts. I sat up and watched him climb off of the bed, making sure to be as quiet as possible as he carried the things he'd brought with him. When he reached the door though, he turned back to me. "I'm glad I could be of some comfort to you, Crystal."

"I'm glad you chose to be of some comfort to me, Wormmon." I returned his kind smile as I said the words.

And with that, he departed, leaving me alone with only my thoughts left to keep me company. He probably had to get back out there before Ken noticed his absence. If Ken ever found out about this, all Hell would break loose; you can be sure of that. This will be the only bad aspect if I leave; I'd be leaving Wormmon alone with that monster, Ken. I wasn't sure if I could do that or not.

'No, Crystal. Don't back out now. You do what you have to do to possibly defeat Ken if need be. And you can't very well do that in your current situation, now can you? No, I didn't think so.' My decision was clear to me...

If need be, I'd get out of there and come back for Wormmon later. If my suspicions were confirmed and Ken is really the monster I'd thought he was, then all I needed to figure out was how to get away from him. 'I'll come to that conclusion that on a later date,' I decided to myself.

So, with that out of the way, I tried to relieve my stress until it was time for Ken to go out and see how the slaves were doing with there work. When that time came, I would follow him and see just how he treats others besides me. Until then, I just had to keep myself busy, keep my mind occupied until the time came.

So, after a few hours of reading, drawing, and basically finding anything else I could do to entertain myself, I looked at the clock again. It was nearing lunchtime already. And after lunch was when Ken went out and watched over the slaves for a while. After lunch was when the real challenge starts for me.

With that thought it mind, it became nearly impossible to keep my mind off of everything that was going on. But I managed to do so for a few more minutes until a knock on the door suddenly brought everything back. "Who is it?" I immediately questioned.

"It's Wormmon again." The answer came as my door opened and in came Wormmon. "Ken's sent me to get you for lunch," he told me.

I sighed as I stood up and walked towards him. "Oh, please don't tell me it's—"

"The left over sushi from last night."

"More sushi?! Crap!" I rolled my eyes. "He's really trying to torture me today, isn't he?"

"It looks that way," Wormmon said as he smiled back at me. He followed me as I headed out the door and started down the long corridor to the dining room.

"Do I really have to face him right now?" I turned my head to Wormmon as I said this, though not slowing my pace. "You know what's gonna happen, he's just gonna get on my case about what happened this morning. I hate it when he does that." Wormmon only shrugged and nodded. With a sigh, I walked in silence the rest of the way to the dining room and the really "fun" (not!!!) time I had to look forward to.

As I entered the dining room, Ken just eyed me strangely. He was probably just looking forward to getting on my nerves some more; God, I hate him sometimes. I sat down at my usual place at the end opposite Ken. Immediately, the confrontations started. I wasn't in a very good mood right now, and my facial expression definitely showed that factor.

As I ate the sushi on my plate, trying hard not to gag or to show any sign of disgust at all, Ken started up the conversation, his usual egotistical manner obviously intact. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't make yourself look so insolent," he said to me, looking heatedly at my angry yet confident expression.

'Yeah? Well, I'd appreciate it if you were close enough for me to kick your a—'

"Alright?"

"Okay." I changed my expression as best I could with the way I was feeling. The rest of lunch pretty much went on like that. Ya know, an occasional comment here and there, me sneaking Ken a nasty look when he wasn't looking, that sort of thing.

Then it was over and Ken walked out the door, leaving his plate and everything on the table. Whoa! Now wait just one damn second! He's never done that before. Does he expect me to clean up both my area and his?! Ah, hell no, he didn't! Why I oughtta...!

I mumbled stuff like that to myself as I did what Ken obviously expected me to do. "Okay, now he expects me to clean up after him? Someone should tell that bastard that I ain't his maid and that he should clean up his own damn messes!" Good thing I was keeping my voice down. Man, if Ken had heard that, it would've gone from bad, like it is now, to way worse.

After I was done, I started back towards my room, when suddenly I remembered what I had to do next. So, with my heart pounding and my nerves shaking, I quietly snuck outside. 'Is this really a good idea?' I asked myself as I reached the doorway.

That's where I stopped. From there, I could see and here everything that Ken was doing. I took a deep breath and slowly looked around the corner I was in and looked out the doorway at him. And what I saw was worse than I had ever imagined it to be...

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A/N: Well, there it is, chapter 5. Sorry I haven't updated in a few days. I wasn't able to use my computer for a while. There was a problem. But, it's okay, problem all fixed. So, if you liked this chapter, as always, R&R. If you didn't and you decide to flame me, THEN SCREW YOU! Don't even bother. I won't pay any attention to it except I will delete it and pretend that it never happened in the first place.

Digimon Emperor: I seriously worry about you sometimes, Diva'sDream.

Ah shut it! Oh, and by the way, let midnight breezy go, ya loser! (Yay! I updated! Do I get my 10 imaginary digi dollars now?)

Digimon Emperor: Make me! (Sticks out tongue)

Okay. (To reader) Please excuse me while I take care of Mr. Attitude. Sorry all you Ken fans out there! Please don't hate me for this! (Attacks Ken)

Digimon Emperor: Yikes!

Bye!


	6. The Truth, Revealed

Ken's voice was the first thing I heard when I peered my head around the corner. It was full of anger and cruelty, basically dripping with malevolence. "Faster, you slackers!" was what he said. I knew this wasn't going to be good, but it was then that I fully understood how appalling it really was.

As the sight before me came into view, I was hardly able to believe what I was seeing. I saw many digimon working on a single control spire. They all looked exhausted, as though they hadn't had a break in hours, which if I had to guess, I'd say they probably hadn't.

They were being forced to lift really heavy blocks and use them to build the spire. And all of them looked like they were in really bad shape, like they'd been beaten severely at one point in time or another. Oh, the poor things. My heart automatically went out to them—the poor creatures.

One of them paused suddenly, obviously trying to build up the strength to move, to continue with this grueling task put upon it. "I said faster!" I heard Ken yell suddenly.

My eyes sought him out, finding him just in time to see him bring his whip down on the back of an already incredibly weak digimon. The poor digimon fell to the ground, recoiling in pain, as I gasped in horror at the sight, my eyes wide.

But even that wasn't enough to satisfy Ken. It was so awful that I had to bring my head back around the corner so as not to look, though the sound of his whip as it struck the poor creature again and again still penetrated my ears. So that was it—the truth, revealed. I finally knew the truth about Ken.

"What kind of a monster is he?" I asked myself. But then I clapped a hand over my mouth and completely froze as I realized that I'd said it a little too loudly, and that the horrible sound of Ken's whip had suddenly stopped.

'Oh God! He heard me!' my mind screamed. I didn't wait around to make sure that was the case, either. I took off, running down the long corridor as fast as I could. 'If I can just get to my room, he won't be able to prove that I was actually there!' I stumbled and almost fell at one point, but I quickly recovered and kept going, not wanting to slow down or give Ken any chance at catching up with me.

I sighed in relief as I reached my bedroom and locked myself inside, though still panting and out of breath. "That's it!" I told myself aloud, making sure to keep my voice at a whisper. "I've got to get out of here. I knew that Ken was the monster I'd sensed him to be. I'll have to escape tonight while he's sleeping; that is the only way."

As quietly as I could, I packed my things and then, when I was sure that everything I needed was packed up, I hid the overly stuffed suitcase under my bed. I would get it tonight when I ran away. But until then, I just had to act as though nothing was different. Boy, would that be hard to do after what I'd just witnessed or what?!

The day seemed to drag on and on, probably because of how stressed out I was the entire day. When dinner finally rolled around, I really didn't wanna be in the same room with Ken, but I had no choice. Hey, at least it wasn't sushi that we were having tonight. Ken finally had them fix something I liked—ribs! Finally, something edible! (No offense to sushi loversâor sushi for that matter.)

(Me: Gasp I want some! That's my favorite! Pleeeeeeaaaaaaasssssssseeeeeee!)

There was an unbearable silence in the room the entire time. It was the quietest Ken had been in a while. Something didn't seem right to me. 'I knew it; he probably did hear me back there,' was the first thing that came to my mind, more worried than I'd ever been in my entire life, though enjoying not having to talk to him for the time being.

I made sure to finish my dinner first and retreat back to my room so I wouldn't be stuck cleaning after that "royal" pain-in-the-ass again. (Me: I've always wanted to call the emperor that. Not Ken, 'cause Ken is soooo damn hot, but the emperor on the other handâAhem. Anywaysâ)

Oh man, did that night go by slowly or what?! It seemed like an eternity, waiting for him to finally go to sleep so I could get the hell out of there. I tried to do whatever was possible to keep myself occupied, not to mention calm. And all the while, I was praying that Ken wouldn't come into my room and find out or something like that. And I kept freezing in fear every time I heard his footsteps go by my room.

But then, finally, the time came. I heard Ken close the door to his room, and I knew this was my chance. So, I got my suitcase from under the bed, all the while with one question going through my mind—'can I really pull this off?' I tried to ignore that doubt in my mind as I slowly opened my door and tiptoed out, making sure to listen for any signs of impending danger.

As I started down the long hallway, hopefully for the last time, my heart started to pound in my chest and my entire body was shaking like a leaf. It took me five minutes until I finally reached the exit, and a soon as it was in my sight, I let out a sigh of relief. It seemed like I'd gotten out, that I'd finally escaped, but then just as suddenly, that all changed as the unthinkable happened.

I gasped in surprise and dropped my suitcase. I had almost reached the exit; I was so close. But before I could quite get there, someone I'd hoped I'd never have to face again stepped between meâand my freedom. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, that damn whip enclosed in one hand. "Going somewhere, little girl?" he snickered, and I knew then that this wasn't gonna be quite as easy anymore.

"Oh no, Ken, of course not. I was just stepping outside for some fresh air, that's all." I knew he wasn't gonna fall for that, but hey, I had to say something.

He narrowed his eyes at me and took a step closer. "Really? So, you need a suitcase to step outside for fresh air, hmm?"

"Um, well" I trailed off, having absolutely no clue whatsoever of what to say. I had to think of something, anything! 'C'mon, think!' I thought to myself frantically, keeping a very close eye on Ken so he couldn't take me by surprise.

But I had no more time to think about it as he suddenly came at me, trying to knock me to the ground with a backhand. But he wasn't quite fast enough this time as I blocked his blow and delivered one of my own to his head. (Boy, I bet Ken is real sorry he ever taught me that move now!)

Though that only succeeded in making him stumble backwards and become disoriented for a few seconds, that was enough for me. I quickly snatched up my suitcase and ran out the door, the cool night air rushing to meet me, welcoming me into what I hoped was going to be my new life, away from Ken.

Ya know, he offered me a slice of his empire if I'd help him defeat the other digidestined. I'm such an idiot to have accepted! But hey, it wasn't until I saw first-hand the pain he brings to all the poor digimon that I understood that he was the evil one here, and now I must set right what I've helped to make so wrong

ââââââââââââââââââââââââââââââââ

A/N: Well, there you go, chapter 6. Sorry if this chapter wasn't as good as the others, it's been a really hectic week. So as always, if you liked it, please R if you didn't like it, then oh well, that's your problem, not mine!

Digimon Emperor: (Sarcastically) Oh you're just so nice, Diva'sDream.

I know, aren't I?

Digimon Emperor: --

Ah, you're just pissed off because I finally got to hit ya! (Sees reader) Ohâ uhhhhâ Chapter 7 is coming soon! Buh-bye!


	7. Sincerity

My legs hurt so badly. I just wanted to stop, wanted to rest my aching body; if only for a few minutes then that would be fine with me, but I couldn't. I couldn't risk it. If I stopped, he could catch up to me; he could bring me back and then beat me more severely than ever before for running away. No, I couldn't stop just yet. I just had to keep going... until I was absolutely sure that I was safe.

The cool evening air felt so nice against my skin, and the sky looked just ever so beautiful. Hmm, well, I guess that's what you get from someone who hasn't felt or, for that matter, actually been so free in months. But then a thought suddenly came to my mind. 'How am I gonna get home? I mean Ken took my digivice away months ago, after he hurt me the first time, trying to ensure that I'd never be able to completely escape him.

I listened for any sounds of me being pursued—the sounds of an airdramon flying towards me, Ken yelling for me to just give up and show myself, his whip cracking every so often—that sort of thing. But then, I finally stopped and breathed a sigh of relief as I was only greeted with the familiar sound of silence.

So, once I was pretty sure that I was safe, I took a minute to take in my surroundings. I was in a forest, the one bordering Ken's fortress on all sides, making it impossible to tell from which direction an attack my the emperor may come by now.

Then, as soon as I figured out where I was in general, I began to look for a place to sleep down for the night; I was so tired. My eyes soon fell upon an old willow, hollowed out at its huge base. "Ah well, I guess it's as good a place as any," I said to myself and shrugged, climbing inside and settling down.

I took a blanket out of my suitcase and wrapped it around myself for warmth. My eyelids were so heavy that it didn't take long for them to close and for me to slip into a deep sleep, even though I'd been telling myself to be careful in case Ken shows up just a few seconds ago.

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I awoke the next morning to sunlight shining in my eyes and a peculiar noise I couldn't quite place. It took me a few seconds to realize that it was voices that I was hearing. (And no, not the voices in my heard; that's a different story.)

As soon as I realized what it was, though, I became alarmed. What if that was Ken, out looking for me?! I sat bolt upright and accidentally banged my head on the inside of the tree hollow. As I rubbed my sore head, I listened closely to the voices, trying to figure out where they were coming from and whom they belonged to.

"Man, it sure is nice to be back in the Digital World after such a long time."

"Yeah. It was a great idea you had to have a picnic here, Tai. I just hope that nothing goes wrong while we're hear."

"Thanks Sora. And don't sweat it. Hopefully, the Digimon Emperor will take a day off and leave us the hell alone."

I heard a yell and a sound like someone falling to the ground. Then I could here laughter erupting from the direction in which the voices where coming from. "Way to avoid the tree roots, Matt," someone laughed.

What? Was I hearing things, or were there other humans in the Digital World right now besides Ken and me? Well, whoever it was, they didn't seem to like Ken too much. But wait, the last person to speak; I recognized that voice as one of the digidestined that Ken was always fighting. What was that one's name? Uhhhh...

"Thanks a lot, Yolei."

Yeah, Yolei, that was it.

Well, now that I knew exactly who it was, I figured it was safe to come out of my hiding spot. Who knows, they might be able to help me. I put the blanket on top of my suitcase and came out of the tree trunk, only to find just who I was looking for to my right.

For a few seconds, no one moved, no one made a sound. I guess they weren't too sure what to think of me. Not that they knew who I was; they didn't. Ken never let me come with him when he was going off to fight the digidestined. It was simply that they were probably all wondering where the hell I just popped out from. And I just wasn't sure of what to do next all together.

Finally, one of them broke the long silence. "Uhhhh...Hi, I'm Davis," he said as he stepped forward and extended his hand for me to shake.

After a second of apprehension, I kindly returned the gesture, smiling and shaking his hand timidly, as was all I could bring myself to do at the moment. "I'm Crystal, pleased to meet you."

"Hi," everyone else said practically at the same time. (Oh how nice, a chorus.)

Another of them then spoke up. "I'm Yolei."

"Cody."

"Kari."

"TK."

"Tai."

"Matt."

"Sora."

"Izzy."

"Joe."

"And I'm Mimi." (I know she moved to America, but let's just say that she's here for a nice little visit. Shall we? We shall, okay.)

Another pause followed the introductions. (Man it took me a while to remember everyone's names.) I guess everyone was unsure of what to do next. I imagine that they're all pretty confused about why I just came out of a tree.

"Uhhhh...Were you sleeping in there?" the boy called TK finally asked me.

"Well...It's a long story." I know, the reply was a classic, but that's all I could think of to say at the moment. I paused for another second, debating on whether or not telling them what happened was a good idea. I finally decided that it couldn't hurt; if anything, they'd be able to help me. So, I launched into the lengthy tale of how I got here, starting at the point where I first met Ken.

"...And so, here I am," I finished up about fifteen minutes later. I looked around at everyone's faces. They were all staring at me with their mouth open. 'Oh great, another uncomfortable silence.' I waited for someone to speak.

"Whoa," Tai finally said. "Well, you don't have to worry about Ken anymore, Crystal. We'll help you out." He gave me a warm smile, as did the rest of them, and I knew right then and there, that they were sincere about all of this. Finally...sincerity. After months of going through hell with Ken, someone was sincere and kind to me; well actually, besides Wormmon that is.

And so with that, they invited me to sit down and join them with their picnic. And maybe, after that, they could find some way to get me home. Oh that would be wonderful, to finally go home and to see my family again, after so long. I've missed them so much and I would've given anything for this opportunity had it been necessary. It's just too bad that my joy didn't last too much longer than that.

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"Want anymore pie, Crystal?"

"Oh no thanks, Kari, I'm good." I politely shook my head as I replied, still smiling as I'd been through the entire picnic.

"Don't worry about seeming rude. Eat as much as you want; there's plenty here to eat," Cody said to me, and then bit down into his own slice of the delicious apple pie that Yolei had brought from her grandparents' store.

"Yeah, I mean, you deserve it, considering how much you've been through," Joe decided to add to the conversation. I had to admit it; Joe was right about one thing. I have been through a whole lot this week.

"Yeah. And now, I just hope that it's finally over," I sighed, and then took in a deep whiff of all the mouth-watering food laid out before me. But I suddenly froze as the bushes behind us shook and a certain someone came out from behind them, riding confidently on one of his tyrannomon.

"It's too bad for you that this isn't over, little girl!"

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A/N: Don't hate me for the cliffhanger; I just had to leave it there. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'll get started on the next one right away.

Digimon Emperor: Ya just had to stop it right when I was about to have a little fun, didn't ya Diva'sDream?

(Pretends to think about it) Uhhhh...yeah, pretty much.

Digimon Emperor: Why you little—

Anyway, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has reviewed so far.

Digimon Emperor: (Sarcastically) Yeah, thanks for encouraging her.

Ah give it a rest. You're just mad because I attacked you over kidnapping midnight breezy. Which, by the way, (whispering to midnight breezy) don't worry. I'll find some way to get ya out of there.

Digimon Emperor: No ya won't.

(Sticks tongue out at him) Oh and that reminds me, thanks for all the digidollars, midnight breezy; I really appreciate it. (Counts money) Yay, I've got 250 digidollars! That's a lot of digimoney!

Digimon Emperor: Hey!

And no, Ken, they're not yours. ...They're Michael's. Well, some of them are anyway.

Digimon Emperor: --... I-hate-you.

(Smiles sweetly) I know. Isn't it wonderful? Anyway, I gotta go start on chapter 8. See ya later, people!!!


	8. He's After Me, Not You

"It's too bad for you that this isn't over, little girl!"

I was absolutely frozen with fear. 'Not again! Oh please, no, not again! What do I do now?!' That's what was going through my mind as soon as I heard Ken's cold voice. I couldn't let him get me, couldn't let him take me back. I'd worked too hard to escape from him. I couldn't just let myself fall right back into his hands. Knowing him, he'll probably beat me so badly that I won't survive it, anyway.

I felt a gentle hand grab me by the wrist and help me to my feet. "Don't even think about it, Ken!" Matt yelled to him. Everyone else got up and got between Ken and the two of us. "C'mon, Crystal, I'm getting you outta here," Matt whispered in my ear, starting to lead me away from everyone else gently.

"No! Don't you dare move, Crystal! Ya know, you should really know better than to disobey me by now, little one." Oh yeah, I sure did hear that clearly. I started to slow down, contemplating whether or not to do as Ken had said. I looked back and forth between the two of them—Ken and Matt. I looked back and forth from Matt's kind, pleading eyes to Ken's cold and merciless stare.

"C'mon, Crystal. Don't listen to him. We're gonna take you outta here and you'll never have to see him again. Don't you wanna see your family?" I looked at who was talking to me, automatically being met by a kind smile, despite the situation. "Go on. Go with Matt. Everything's gonna be okay," Kari urged me.

At that instant, I made up my mind. I turned away from Ken and began to walk quickly with him away from the fight about to ensue. I heard Ken yelling again from behind me. "Crystal! Get back here now!" I turned my head to look back, but Matt quickly comforted me and kept leading me away.

"No way, Ken. You here me? You don't control that girl anymore! So why don't you just leave her alone?" Thank you, Davis!

"Ha! Who do you think you are trying to tell me what to do, boy? Don't forget, I'm the Digimon Emperor, and you...you're just a lowly speck of dust compared to me!" Uhhhh ...Yeah, okay, how full of himself can this guy get it one afternoon?

Before anything else could happen though, Ken was knocked off of the tyrannomon and sent crashing to the ground. Everyone looked at what up to see who had done that. "Alright, 'Mr. Almighty', less talk and more fight if that's the way you want it!" Tai growled at him.

That was all I had time to see. Matt then pulled me around a tree so no one else could see us. "Okay, all you need to do is just hold my hand. I'm taking you to the real world. Hold on tight," he instructed me. I did as he said to do and within a matter of seconds, we were in someone's bedroom.

I looked around, a sigh of relief escaping my throat. It'd been so long since I'd last seen the real world, and I was just so glad to be back in it, even though nothing really looked all that different from Ken's fortress, save for a few things. In fact, this room looked a bit like Ken's. "Are you alright?" Matt's concerned question brought me back to reality.

"Yeah," I replied. "Whose room are we in?"

"Izzy's."

No wonder it looks a tad like Ken's, they're both the geniuses of the group.

And so, we had nothing to do but wait for the others to come back. Izzy's parents weren't home so we didn't have to worry about anybody seeing what was going on. Although it really doesn't matter because his parents knew about this...well, at least that's what Matt told me about the situation.

It took about twenty minutes, but at last the portal began to glow and the others appeared before us. And let me tell ya, they didn't look so good at the moment. "Are you all okay?" I gasped in surprise when I saw them.

They all got up and then Mimi put a hand on my shoulder encouragingly. "Yeah, we're all alright."

"Man, that Ken is one hell of a fighter. He doesn't understand the word 'quit', does he?" TK said to me as he dusted off his pants.

I shook my head. "No, he really doesn't."

"We figured as much," Joe added as he cleaned off his glasses and then readjusted them on the bridge of his nose.

I let out a sigh, suddenly overcome with a feeling of dread. I brought my gaze to the floor as I thought for a second. "I'm so sorry guys," I told them apprehensively then, my voice just barely above a whisper. "This is all my fault. If I'd just stayed at the fortress then you all wouldn't have had to fight him just then. You having to fight him wasn't fair. He's after me, not you."

I felt a pair of hands hug me gently and I turned to see Izzy smiling at me. "There's nothing to be sorry about, Crystal. We did what we had to do to protect another from his wrath. None of this is your fault, he was asking for it."

I returned the smile and sat down in a chair. "Thanks."

"No problem."

Matt then reached into his pocket and pulled out his car keys. "So hey, where do you live, Crystal? I'll drive you there."

"About ten miles east of Odaiba. I'll show you the way there."

"Okay, let's go."

I nodded silently as I got up and walked to the door. "See ya later," I heard Davis say to me. I turned back and waved goodbye to everyone. Then, I followed Matt out to his car.

The entire drive to my house, I was growing increasingly more nervous. 'What is my family gonna think of my disappearance? Do they miss me at all? Do they think I ran away, or do they think that I was kidnapped? Has any really major change occurred since I last saw them—?'

"You okay?" My thoughts were interrupted by a concerned question from Matt as he glanced at me through his rear-view mirror.

"Oh," I exclaimed, blushing a bit as I fully realized for the first time, now that all the drama was over for the day, just how cute Matt was, "yeah, I'm alright."

"Good."

My attention turned back out the window as I saw a house coming up on my side of the car. "That's it," I said as I pointed out the house to Matt. Then, I looked out the window again as we pulled into the driveway of the ever so familiar three-story house that I hadn't seen in months now.

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A/N: Okay, okay, I know that Sora and Matt are supposed to be together later on in the show, but I can't resist. Matt is the second-hottest guy on the entire show, next to Ken. But hey, I'm done yet; so maybe it's not gonna end up how it looks. (Crafty eyes.)

Digimon Emperor: What are you planning?

If I told you now, then it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?

Digimon Emperor: (Shivers) I'm scared of how this might turn out.

(Evil face) Hey, what's the worst that could happen? Mwa ha ha ha ha!!! (Evil laughter)

Digimon Emperor: 0o...


	9. Family Reunion

My hand was shaking with excited anticipation as I opened the door, after I said goodbye and thanked Matt for everything. The house was strangely quiet. I figured that my disappearance must've taken quite a devastating toll on everyone in my family.

It was a Saturday evening. My family should've been all in the living room watching TV if I remember correctly. Yeah, Saturday night was movie night in the Johnson household. It's just too bad I missed going to synagogue with the family this morning. (Yes, all of us were raised to be my faith; we're all Jewish)

I went through the hallway, making sure to look at everything as I went by, just to see if anything had changed since I'd disappeared. It was exactly how I'd remembered it. It even smelled the same. Oh, words just can't describe how happy I was to be back in my own safe, comforting home. Finally, I came to the living room and slowly turned the corner to find—

"Crystal!"

I groaned slightly as one of my younger siblings slammed into me. "Lil! Hey Sweetheart!" We gave each other a big hug and then I took her little black hand in my white one and we walked over to the rest of the family, who were all just sitting there with their eyes wide in surprise. (Lil is short for Lily, just so you guys know. she's 7 years old.)

Oh, did I forget to mention? Out of all the kids in my family, my twin sister Rachel (Rach, 14 yrs. just like me) and I are the only two biological children of my parents. All of my other brothers and sisters were adopted. Oh, and one other thing. ...There're twelve of us; well, fourteen of us if you include our parents and fifteen if you include my grandmother, Grandma Zelda (Grandma Z), who also lives here with us.

I know, it seems like a lot, but hey, we all like having a big family. As my father, Terrence (Terri), always said, "The more the merrier." It's just a good thing that our house is big enough. Well, sure, pretty much no one but my grandmother has their own room in this house but...ya know...

After about a second of everyone just staring in shock, everyone suddenly reacted and surrounded me in a huge hug. Of course, my mother, Amelia (Lia), was the first person to get to me though.

"Oh my goodness," she gasped as she held me tightly, the tears rolling down her cheeks freely in a cascade of emotion. "My little girl! My little angel! You've come back to us! I've missed you so much!" (Oy vey! Well, I guess that's what you get from being the younger twin, ain't it?)

"It feels so good to be back! I've missed you all, too!" was all I could find in my mind to say in reply, while at the same time trying my hardest not to show any pain. Well, I mean, my mother had been gripping me a bit too tight and was pressing on my back a little too hard. My back still hurt from the other day.

"Crys? What happened to you?" my brother Jordan (Jo—black) asked as he noticed my reaction. (Crys is my nickname.) I looked at him, only to find a look of concern in his eyes. It's no surprise that he was this concerned about me; he's the oldest of the twelve of us at 17 years old and thinks of it as his responsibility to care for his younger siblings.

It was only then that everyone else noted the bruises, cuts, and such that could be seen at various spots on my body, especially my arms. And it was also then that my sister Fiona (Fi, 11 yrs.—Native American) gasped in horror as she took a look inside the collar of my blouse and saw the scars on my back.

I didn't know what to tell them. I couldn't just tell them what really happened. I couldn't tell them about the Digital World, about Ken, about my stupidity at going with him. Besides, you don't really think they'd believe me, do you? ...No, I didn't think so.

My mind raced to find something to tell them...anything. I sat down on the couch and chose my words carefully.

"I was kidnapped, Jo. I...I don't know the man who did it; never caught his name. And he always wore a mask near me, so I don't even know what he looks like. He grabbed me on my way home from school; took me to some place I didn't recognize. He did this to me...

"Last night, he got drunk and passed out in the room next to the one I was in. I cut through my ropes and that's when I got away. I left him tied up, so I don't think he followed me. And I called the police from a payphone to get him."

I sat there and hoped they'd bought that. They were all just staring at me, they're mouths agape. There was a long pause. "Whoa," my sister, Gypsy (Gyp, 10 yrs.—Hawaiian), finally sighed, breaking through the silence. I heard barking suddenly and before I knew it Kiki, our little reddish cocker spaniel puppy, had jumped into my lap and was now licking at my face.

So, after this whole cheery family reunion, we sat down and finished watching the movie. Boy how I'd missed this. A calm night, surrounded by the ones you love most. It felt like Heaven after being trapped with Ken for so long. And didn't I show up one the right night? We were watching home movies that night.

Oh, I remember the one we were watching! It was the night we went out for a big celebration dinner after my sister Hannah (Hani, 13 yrs.—Middle Eastern American) got a standing ovation in her first-ever ballet recital. That night, the second oldest of the twelve of us, my brother Nathaniel (Nat, 15 yrs.--Chinese American), got us kicked out of the restaurant, along with his brother, Dylan (Dyl, same as Nat), for totally cleaning out the all-you-can-eat buffet.

I remember that Shaina (Shai, same as her brothers), their sister and the youngest of the triplets, started laughing so hard at the situation that milk came out of her nose. It was hilarious!

I sighed with delight, the youngest child out of all of us, my little brother William (Billy, 3 yrs.—Hispanic American), nestled up close to me, fast asleep. And the second youngest, his older brother Evan (Ev, 5 yrs.—Same as his brother) nestled up to me on the other side. Yeah, I was just happy that everything finally seemed to be back to normal.

By the time the movie ended, it was 10:30 at night. So, Mom and Dad told us all to go to bed. After saying goodnight to everyone, we all went to our rooms. As I closed the door to the room I shared with Rachel, Fiona and Hannah, I stopped for a second to take in the familiar setting that I hadn't seen in so long.

I stood there and looked around for a second and smiled. Then, I climbed into the top bunk, the one right over Fi's bed, and went to sleep. Finally, after so long, I got to sleep in my own soft, warm and comforting bed.

A/N: Well, there it is; chpt. 9. As always, if you liked it, then review, if you didn't, then SCREW YOU! I will get my revenge on you! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! ...Ahem... anyway...

Digimon Emperor: 0o...

What?

Digimon Emperor: 0o...

Okay --...Anyway, sorry if this chapter wasn't too interesting. It's been really hectic around here so, I've been having a pretty rough week.

Digimon Emperor: Excuses, excuses.

(Death glare)

Digimon Emperor: 0o (again)...

Ah, you just mad because, guess what! (Singsong voice) I finally got away from you! I finally got away from you! Hahaha!!!

Digimon Emperor: Ah, shut up, Baka!

(Stops dancing; death glare returns) What did you call me?!

Digimon Emperor: Uh-oh......Excuse me while I go run for my life now. (Makes a run for it.)

Bye everyone! (Runs after him) I'm gonna get you, Cape-Boy! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha!!! (Man, did I sound like Zoycite just then or what? ...Hey, wait a second! The name "Cape-Boy works for both the Digimon Emperor from "Digimon" and Tuxedo Mask from "Sailor Moon"! They both wear capes! I figured it out, yay for me!)

Digimon Emperor: --...

(Running after Ken) Bye!


	10. Rubymon

_I screamed in pain and then began to breathe heavily in panic as I backed into and then cowered in the corner, my face tearstained, blood beginning to run down my cheek from the cut Ken had made on my face with a knife. Ken was angrier than I'd ever seen him before! I didn't know what to do, and thought that I was probably going to die that night._

_Where did he come from? That's what I wanted to know. One second I had woken up in my old room back in his fortress, and then the next Ken was right behind me holding a knife! Even through his glasses, I could see the fire in his eyes, the fury. I hadn't had time to react before he'd brought the knife quickly across my cheek._

_"Ken, please, I-I'll never d-do it again! I-I wasn't thinking when I ran a-away!" I stuttered, finding it hard to speak with how fiercely I was trembling, not to mention how hard it was to speak between sobs. I never thought I'd find myself this afraid of Ken, but I guess I was wrong, huh? I am now!_

_None of what I said seemed to sway Ken's intentions though as he continued to stare at me furiously, getting closer with every second that passed. "Oh, it's too late for that now, Crystal," he told me, now within a few inches of me. "Much too late. You betrayed me ...and I don't accept betrayal."_

_I couldn't seem to concentrate too well on what he was saying. My body hurt so badly from how much he'd beaten me over the last three hours. But just then, he raised the knife up high. "Goodbye, little girl," he said to me. I screamed in terror, helpless to stop what was happening as it suddenly came down upon me._

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I sat bolt upright in bed with a scream, drenched in sweat. I looked around for a second, trying to figure out what was going on and where I was. I was so disoriented that I forgot just where I really was for a moment. Had that really just happened? Had I really just been back in the fortress, at Ken's mercy? ...No, it was all just a dream; all just a bad nightmare, probably brought on by the events of the last few days.

Suddenly, I felt a small hand on my shoulder and gasped, jumping in surprise, my heart still racing. "Whoa, just relax, Crystal. It's me, Hannah. Are you all right?" My fear finally began to subside and I finally began to calm down as I saw Hannah's worried eyes staring straight at me.

Within a matter of seconds, Fiona and Rachel were both standing there, too. They also had a worried expression on their faces. "Sweetie, is everything okay?" Rachel questioned me, sitting down next to me on the bed. She took a tissue from the desk near my bed and wiped the sweat from my forehead.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm all right." I sighed to try and steady my shaky nerves.

"Well, okay; if you say so. Just try and get some sleep, alright? Everything's gonna be better in the morning, I bet. Okay?" Fiona said. With that, we all agreed and went back to sleep, although I have to admit that I personally didn't get much sleep that night.

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That morning, Mom came in and woke us up, saying that she'd made a special breakfast to celebrate my homecoming. So, we got up and got dressed and everything. When we came out of our room, Dad asked me to go wake up the boys and for Rachel to go wake up the other girls.

We did so, me going into their room and waking up Jordan, William, Evan, Dylan, and Nathaniel, while Rachel went and woke up Gypsy, Lily, and Shaina. Then, we all went to the breakfast table. Even before we got there, I could smell the food and knew at once that it was all of my favorites.

I was right! As I sat down, there was so much waiting for me—pancakes with maple syrup, orange juice, milk, bacon, eggs, waffles, hash browns, and French toast. Mmmm!!! It was all so good, especially since I hadn't eaten like that in months. And you know how food always seems to taste better after you hadn't had it in so long. Ken never gave me anything really delicious like this stuff to eat, (and if I have to eat another bite of sushi I swear I am going to scream).

After dinner, I asked Jordan if he could drop me off at a friend's house. I'd almost forgotten that I'd left my digimon, Rubymon (if that's not an actual digimon then oh well, so sue me), at her house. Oh I hadn't seen them in so long and I was eager to finally see them both again.

So, Jo dropped me off and then left. I took a deep breath to steady my nerves as I rang the doorbell. Her mother opened the door and was practically overflowing with delight. She hugged me so tightly that I could only manage to croak out, "It's nice to see you again too, Miss Jennifer. Is Willis home?" (I know, he lives in America, doesn't he? But hey, for story purposes, let's just say he moved here. Okay? All right.)

"Oh, yes of course. Come right in."

As soon as his mother closed the front door, Willis came walking into the living room. Once he saw me he came running up to me and gave me a hug. After talking to Willis's mom for a few minutes, Willis led me to his room. It was exactly how I'd remembered it to be when I last saw it. I sat down on the bed, turning my attention the closet door as it suddenly opened just a crack and then heard an excited gasp—

"Crystal!"

Before I knew what hit me, Rubymon was pressing herself up against my stomach lovingly, her big, beautiful green eyes tearing up. I hadn't seen my partner, that beautiful little cat-like digimon in months. It seemed so surreal to finally be able to hold her in my arms again. "Oh, Rubymon, I've missed you so much!" I said to her as I we nuzzled each other with our cheeks.

I looked into Rubymon's eyes and saw that she'd started to cry, as had I. "I've missed you, too." I'd totally forgotten about Willis, who had been watching us contentedly the entire time.

I smiled at him; he smiled back. Then, we talked for a long while about what'd happened to me and why I hadn't come back in so long. After we had everything all cleared up, I called Jo to come pick me up and then followed Willis into the living room, Rubymon lying in my arms, pretending to be a stuffed animal so Willis's mom wouldn't notice when I took her home.

"Would you like to stay for dinner, Sweetie?" his mother asked me as Willis and I headed towards the door, a caring smile on her face.

"Oh, that's very kind of you, but I'm sorry. I can't tonight. Thank you anyway, though." I absentmindedly started to pet Rubymon without knowing it, and then stopped as soon as I noticed what I was doing. Wouldn't want Willis's mom thinking me strange, would I?

"Oh, all right then. Have a safe trip home, Dear." I thanked them and then went out the door, only to find Jo waiting for me in his car.

On the way home, he only asked me one question: "You went over there just to get a stuffed animal?" Oh well, all I know is that, for the first time in months, everything was starting to become normal again. And it looked as if I wasn't gonna have to look at Ken Ichijouji, the Digimon Emperor, ever again...

...Well...until that night, anyway...

A/N: Well, there it is, chapter 10. It took me a while to figure out where to go with this one. And I couldn't help but leave it there! Please don't try to kill me for the cliffhanger; I couldn't think of a better way to end it.

Digimon Emperor: I know, she's irritating, isn't she?

Ah shut up, Pretty Boy.

Digimon Emperor: Hey!

Hey is for horses, sheep, and—(points to Ken)—Oh look, a cow!

Digimon Emperor: --...well, can't say I didn't know that one was coming.

(Laughing) Anyway, I'm not quite sure which crest to give her. Is there already a Crest of Spirit? Or maybe of Purity? Suggestions are welcome; criticism...okay; flames, HELL NO!!!! (Demon eyes) All flamers shall feel the wrath of the ducks in my head! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha!!! (Turns back to normal) Oh...Uh...Bye everybody!


	11. Goal

"**Hello, Crystal."**

I didn't know at all whether I should answer the IM or not. I was just talking to Kari online (We'd all exchanged email addresses a yesterday) and then another one suddenly popped up from someone name "Goal".

I wasn't sure whether it was Ken, trying to pull some sick prank on me, or just one of my friends trying to get in touch with me after changing their email address.

Well, the name made it sound as if this person played soccer. Does Ken play soccer? I don't know. (A/N: I know he does, but just go with me here, okay?) But it could be Davis. He told me that he plays soccer, but that's not the screen name he gave me.

Could he have another one that he'd forgot to give me yesterday? I wouldn't put it passed Davis to forget something like that, based on how he acted yesterday.

I decided to take a chance with it and I answered the IM. I concluded that I'd simply cut off all communication with him if I thought it was Ken. I really hoped it would be him, though. **"Hey. Who'z this?"**

"**O, sry. It's Davis. This is 1 of my other sn's that I forgot 2 give u yesterday."**

It figures; why did I ever think it was Ken in the first place? 'Crys, you have got to chill out. You're getting all paranoid here! Ken is not gonna be able to come after you now that you're back home, surrounded by your family and all your new friends, so stop stressing out about it.'

**"O, ok. Sry about that, I've just been a little jumpy lately." **

**"Cuz of what happened?"**

Oh, does he have to keep bringing it up?

"**Yeah."**

"**It's understandable. That Ken can b 1 scary dude."**

'Uh, okay, now since when has Davis thought of Ken as scary? From the looks of it, he is in no way afraid of that bastard once so ever. Hmm...'

"**Uh...Yeah." **

"**Well, I mean, if u've never fought him b4."**

"**O, yeah, that makes sense." **

'Okay, now something is definitely not right hear. I don't like this at all. What if it is Ken? Is he trying to scare me? He must be; why else would he be emailing me? He must be trying to scare me or make fall for a trap or something like that. Oh, this cannot be good!

'...Wait; hold on a second. Just chill out for a sec, Crys. Maybe you're just overreacting. Maybe it really is Davis and you're just being overly cautious. Yeah, that's it. It must be Davis. It must just be another email address. It must be—'

"Crystal, Mom says it's time for bed."

I jumped and spun around in surprise with a gasp. I found that it was only Dylan, and I relaxed again. "Okay, I'm going." He nodded in response and left the room. 'Thank you, Dylan!'

"**Hey, D? I've g2g. TTYL?" **I typed in quickly, actually eager to get off of the computer for the first time in my life.

"**Ok, Crys, bye."**

"On second thought, maybe it is just Davis," I said to myself then. "Ken doesn't speak like that. I have never once heard Ken say the word 'dude'. Yeah, I must be just getting myself all worked up for nothing."

"**Bye."**

I signed off and went to bed then, deciding that I would just ask Davis about it when I met up with the others at the mall tomorrow. I sat up in bed for a minute to think about it. Yeah, that's what I'd do. There was no need for me to worry. Everything was gonna be all right. Nothing was gonna go wrong. Everything was gonna be—

"Crystal? Are you okay?" The sound of Rubymon's voice, a soft whisper so as not to awaken my sisters who all thought she was a stuffed animal, snapped me out of my trance. I looked over my shoulder to see her lying next to me, her soft, big chestnut-colored eyes showing her concern plainly.

"Huh? What? ...Oh, yeah. Of course I am, Rubymon. Everything's okay." I know it was a lie, but I couldn't worry Rubymon over this, especially since it might turn out to be nothing anyway. Yeah, I thought it best to keep it to myself for now.

"Alright." She sounded suspicious, but ignored it for now and went to sleep.

I turned onto my stomach. 'I sure hope so anyway,' I thought to myself with a restless sigh. Then, I finally fell asleep with a relaxed sigh, though I was still on edge about everything that was happening, and praying that it was nothing to worry about. Although, in the back of my mind, the doubt was still there, screaming to be heard.

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A/N: Well, there's chpt. 11. I'm still thinking of where to take it from there so...yeah... Suggestions are welcome. I still need to know what a good crest for her might be. Is Spirit taken? And if so, then what about Purity? Or Innocence? Maybe? Hmmmm... (Rubs chin like a detective in one of those old movies)

Digimon Emperor: (Sarcastically gasps) Oh my gosh! Is Chloe actually thinking for once?! It's a miracle!

Ah, shut up!

Digimon Emperor: (Sticks out tongue and then—) Ow! Hey! (Sees book on the ground next to him) Chloe!

Bull's-eye! Third time in a row! Yeah!

Digimon Emperor: (Reaches for whip)

Hey, that reminds me...

Digimon Emperor: (Pauses)

Ya know, midnight breezy hasn't reviewed in a while. Did you kill her off or something? If so, you shall pay!

Digimon Emperor: (Evil smile) Maybe. But then again, maybe not...

Grrrrr...You evil person! (Attacks him)

Digimon Emperor: (Screams and runs away like a little girl)

Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Get back here and face me like a man, Ichijouji! (Sees freaked-out reader staring at her like she was a ghost) Oh, uh, bye! (Chases after Digimon Emperor, who is still running from her)

Digimon Emperor: Somebody help me!!!


	12. Typical Saturday Afternoon

I wasn't concentrating on anything that Gypsy was blabbering to me about. I couldn't; all I could think about was the nightmare I had last night. This is the second one in a row. I know I can't keep going on like this, but I can't seem to help it.

I mean, sure, I may be the Child of Willpower, but it is possible that I may be more afraid of Ken Ichijouji than I'd originally thought I was. I remembered the dream that morning as if I were watching it all over again in my mind, which, actually, I was. So, as you can imagine, it was kinda hard to focus on what Gypsy was saying as I thought about it...

_"You didn't actually think you could hide from me forever, did you? I thought you'd know better by now." He'd said to me, his voice calm—eerily calm. He was about to do something to me; I could just sense it. Something was about to go horribly wrong. I could only guess at the many things it could be._

_When my nightmare took place, it'd only been five minutes since he'd brought me back, but it seemed like an eternity to me. He'd just circled around me the entire time, as though he were interrogating me. That probably wasn't far from the truth, either. He'd probably been doing just that, so he could figure out exactly how to make it so it never happens again. Plus, I figured that he'd also just been trying to scare me out of my wits. _

_I'd opened my mouth to speak at that point, but as I did so, Ken held up a hand to silence me. "Well," he'd said, "no matter. I'll just have to teach you better, then, now won't I?" My eyes widened slightly in fear as he took a step towards me then. I'd begun to back up as he did this, quickly finding myself caught between him and the wall—again! Why the hell to I keep falling for that damn move?!_

_"Oh, but don't you worry about me now; I promise I won't touch you...for now," he'd said at seeing my natural reaction—me watching his every move, anticipating his attack. I'd looked up at him then, confused. What was he talking about then, if he wasn't going to hurt me? But then I got my answer as he then snapped his fingers, a door suddenly opening subsequently. _

_I'd gasped in shocked terror at the sight. "Rubymon!" I then yelled, and tried to run to her. I couldn't get very far though, as Ken grabbed me by the wrist, keeping me in place with an iron grip. "No!" I'd shouted, trying desperately to get out of his grasp, which only tightened as I struggled, to get to the lifeless form—my beloved Rubymon—lying limply in the arms of a Snimon. "Rubymon!!!"_

..."Crystal?"...Huh? Who's calling me? ..."Crystal?" ..."Crystal!!!" I jumped in surprise at the sound. "Hey! Are you alright?!"

I looked up from my bowl of cereal, only to meet the worried eyes of my sister, Gypsy. "Oh, uh, yeah. Of course I am." I know, it was a total lie, but hey, what was I supposed to say? She doesn't know what's really going on here; nobody in my family does. The only people who know are the other digidestined.

"Well...Okay...if you say so."

The doorbell rang. I knew exactly who it was already, though. Man, does Matt have great timing or what?! "Hey, that's gotta be Matt. I gotta go; tell Mom I'll be back in a few hours. Okay?" Gypsy nodded in agreement. I gave her a hug, grabbed my purse, and then walked out the door.

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'Ya know, on second thought, maybe it was Davis who IM'ed me last night. I mean, Ken has never spoken like that in the months that I've known him; whoever I talked to last night never once showed any signs of an advanced vocabulary. It sounded like Davis—forgetful, scatterbrained, and happy-go-lucky. And Ken has never once called me Crys, while Davis did just two days ago the last time I saw him. Plus, Ken doesn't even know my email address. How could he have gotten it? Crys, you're being paranoid. It was Davis last night. There's no need to interrogate him. Just forget about it. You're just—'

"Crystal? Hello? Earth to Crystal, come in, Crystal. Are you with us here?!"

"Huh? ...Yeah," I said, looking at Joe, who'd been the one calling me back to reality. Then I blushed slightly, realizing that I'd totally spaced out and had ice cream melting all over my hand. "Oh!"

Cody handed me a wet napkin to wash my hand off with after I'd fished—well, what was left of my ice cream by then anyway. "Are you alright?" he asked me, just trying to make sure I was okay.

"Yeah, of course," I replied, trying to sound as cheery as possible.

"Okay."

"Well, what do you think, Crystal? Should we offer to help with the Halloween party at the rec. center this year?" Sora asked me through a mouthful of cheeseburger.

"Definitely!" I gasped, suddenly feeling much better. "Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday!" (Me: Hey, mine too!)

"Okay, then it's settled," Davis chimed in, giving a high five to an equally excited Yolei. It was clear that Davis, Sora, Yolei, and I were the ones in this group who seemed to like Halloween a lot.

"Well, I guess we know who the Halloween freaks are in this group." Tai then laughed heartily at seeing our reaction—we had all nodded are heads 'yes' with pride. Then everyone joined in and we all started to laugh. Finally, after so long, I finally get to have a typical Saturday afternoon at the mall. Everything seemed to be going so well, until I turned my head and caught sight of someone I'd hoped to never see again...

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A/N: Well, there you have it, chpt. 12. Sorry for leaving it at another cliffhanger, but, as if you couldn't already figure out what was going on. I apologize if this chapter was a little slow, I had to think of something to use to I could lead up to this point. And what better way to do it than with my favorite holiday, which, by the way, is coming up! Yay!

Digimon Emperor: No wonder she's so scary a lot of the time. Maybe there's more to Diva'sDream than meets the eye. We should check for devil horns or an evil-looking mustache or something like tha—Ow! (Sees book on ground again) Do you have to keep doing that?!

(Halo hovering over her head as she puts on angelic smile) Uhhhh...yeah, pretty much.

Digimon Emperor: ...Why you little irritating, brunette bi—

(Eyes glow red, halo disappears, and she speaks in devil voice) Do you have a problem with that?! (Halo reappears, eyes go back to normal, angelic smile returns)

Digimon Emperor: ...Uhhhh...No...

Bye, everybody! Hope you liked this chapter. I'll update soon, I promise. (Twitch) Buh-bye!

Digimon Emperor: ...Mommy...


	13. Deja Vu

'Oh God! How the hell did he find me?! Please don't come over here, Ken, please," was all that was going through my head as I saw those chillingly familiar eyes staring straight at me and tried to get Yolei's attention.

She was talking enthusiastically to Sora and held up a finger to signal me to wait. But I couldn't wait, so I kept tugging at her sleeve, hoping she would take the hint and turn around. My efforts doubled as he began to slowly walk towards us through the crowd of people surrounding him.

"What?!" Yolei finally responded and turned towards me. But then she gasped as she saw him coming, her eyes widening as the image sank in. "It's Ken!" she yelled, getting everyone else's attention.

Almost immediately, I felt a hand lightly grab my wrist and start gently guiding me the other way. It took a second for all this to register in my mind. But as soon as it did, I turned my head to see Matt trying to take me out of the building.

As I started to move with him towards the exit, Ken made a grab for my hand. He only got close enough to slip something within my grasp without anyone else seeing before Davis shoved him away. Matt kept his grip on my wrist tight, yet gentle. I went with him out of the mall and we waited near the numerous cars that we all came in for everyone else to come out.

"Are you okay?" Matt straight away asked as soon as we stopped next to his car.

"Yeah." That's what I said to him, even though my frightened expression and shaking body would suggest otherwise. So, in hopes to quiet my nerves, Matt put his arms around me and held me close, so close that I could hear and feel his heart beating next to my head, which seemed to calm me with the steady rhythm of it's beating.

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Ten minutes later, the doors to the mall opened and everyone came running to the car. Well, a stomping-run in Yolei's case. "C'mon, you guys. We should get Crys home before Ken follows us—Oh! I see you two are okay." Sounds just like Tai, doesn't it? Matt and I both pulled away from each other, blushing a deep crimson red.

Everyone else suppressed laughter at the sight. But then a noise caught our attention. The doors to the mall were opening again. We all looked to see who it was. Sure enough, Ken was trying to follow us. "Okay, time to go! Everybody split!" Davis exclaimed as we all hopped into the cars we took here. And then, the older digidestined took us home.

Of course, I rode with Matt in his car. (Hey, what can I say?! I like the guy!) I sat up front with him; in the back seat rode Joe, Mimi, and Cody. 'Man, was that ever close or what?!" was all I could think to myself at the moment. But it was then that I remembered that Ken had slipped something into my hand as I left. It'd been clenched in my fist the entire time.

Deciding that I couldn't risk one of the others seeing it and freaking out, I waited till I got home to look at what it was. As soon as I said my goodbyes to Matt and the others, I went inside and immediately closed myself in my room, even though no one else was home.

I'd found a note on the refrigerator saying that they'd all gone shopping and that they'd be home soon. (Hmm, that'll explain why there were no cars in the driveway when I got home.) I was starting to get nervous again, slightly afraid of whatever it was.

Anyways, as soon as I was had sat down on my bed, I opened my clenched fist. On the palm of my hand lay a small piece of paper. I took a deep breath as I unfolded it, my hands shaking. As I'd suspected, what it said chilled me to the bone. I had to read it over again to myself twice more before I could fully comprehend what was being said.

"_You betrayed me ...and I don't accept betrayal...Goodbye, little girl."_ The words that Ken had uttered in my nightmare a few days back rang in my head, clear as a bell, as I stared at the piece of paper. That exact sentence is what was written on the paper, clearly written in Ken's own handwriting. 'What?! But...but that's impossible...isn't it?' (Whoa! Can somebody say "déjà vu"?!)

Just as I asked myself this question, my computer made a noise, telling me that someone was IM'ing me. I'd forgot to sign off of my screen name last night. I hesitantly went over and read the IM, dreading the thought of it being this "Goal" person again. Again, the IM simply read: **"Hello, Crystal"** and the sender was no other than "Goal".

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A/N: I know, I know, that chapter was really short. But hey, I just couldn't help but end it there. Don't hate me for the cliffhanger. I'll update soon, I promise.

Digimon Emperor: -- You...are...evil!

Look who's talking, 'Mr. Take-Over-The-Digital-World-And-Hold-Midnight-Breezy-Captive-At-The-Same-Time'.

Digimon Emperor: (Sticks out tongue) Is that the best you could come up with? C'mon, even Wormmon could come up with a better insult than that!

(Scowls as eyes glow just the slightest shade of red and something can just barely be seen coming out of the top of her head)

Digimon Emperor: (Gasp) You're the best, Diva'sDream!

(Angel look) Thanks! What a nice thing for you to say!

Digimon Emperor: --...

(Holds up book, ready to throw)

Digimon Emperor: (Changing expressions quickly, smiling) ...

(smiling back) ...Bye everybody!


	14. TTYL Kenny Boy!

**"Hello, Crystal"**

I typed in my reply, pausing ever so slightly before typing in the last word. **"O, hey Davis" **I wasn't sure about all this. I mean, I was starting to really believe that it was Davis talking to me, but there was still room in the back of my mind for doubt, and, let me tell you, it sure as hell was there.

"**Wuzzup?" **

'Hmm! Wait a second. What was I thinking? Ken doesn't use any slang like this. Like he knows any! I've been so worked up that I wasn't thinking about that.' Now that the fear was starting to disappear even more, I was less afraid to talk to him. **"Nm. U?"**

"**Same. U ok?"**

"**Yeah" **

"**Ok, just checking"**

"**I'm alright. Thnx anyway, though"**

"**Np"**

Then, I gasped as an idea hit me. I figured out a way to settle my doubts once and for all. So if I just simply—

"**So Davis, howz school going?"**

At first, I received no answer, but after a few seconds, his answer came up on the screen. It was exactly what that little part in the back of my mind expected him to say. **"Uh, Crys? Itz summer right now. We're out of school" **

I stared at the words for a few seconds. I knew it! Davis talked to me yesterday afternoon, (before I got the strange IM), online and complained for five minutes straight about how totally boring summer school is and that he was so glad it was finally the weekend. So, either Davis has a 30 second long short-term memory, or this really is Ken.

**"O, thatz right! Sry, that just goes 2 show how much of an airhead I am"**

**"Np. I do that all the time 2" "Lol"**

I decided then to make an excuse to get the hell off of the Internet with him. But, last minute, I decided to go ahead and "gently" tell him that I knew who he really was. I thought for a second before typing in the message.

**"Yeah. 2 bad I never saw ken make a mistake like that. That'd be priceless! It'd give me proof of what I've known all along"**

A few seconds of silence before—

**"Wuzz that?"**

**"That he's just a normal person like the rest of us. And boy would I love the chance 2 call him what I've been dying 2 call him 4 4ever!" **

**"What?" **

"**Well, lets just put it this way—I bet that under all of that snobby, I-will-rule-the-digital-world, egotistical, chauvinistic, Mr. Almighty attitude of his, he's really more of an idiot than any of us combined!"**

There was a long pause. Boy, that did it!

"**Yeah" **

I knew it! Score! Man, am I having fun! 'Okay, time to top it all off and then go.'

**"Hey, I g2g. TTYL Kenny Boy!" **

**"Y U LITTLE, INSIGNIFICANT PIECE OF DIRT! I AM SO GONNA KILL YOU! HOW THE HELL DID YOU FIGURE IT OUT?!" **

**"Wasn't it obvious? Dude, for an evil genius, you sure didn't think this one through very well, did you?"** Then, I simply signed off. Boy, that felt good! Ken is totally gonna murder me now, but hey, I'm completely satisfied. I haven't been able to say stuff like that to his face in... Well...actually...I never have been able to do that!

And then a realization sunk in. Uh...if Ken ever gets me back, he probably really will kill me for that one. Um... Well, I'd better not get caught, then, huh? Besides, the others will protect me. Matt will protect me. ...Matt...Damn he's hot! 'But there's only one problem, Crys. Did you see the look on Sora's face when they saw us with his arms around me? Dude, she was pissed!'

Hmm, oh well. I'll think about that later. Right now, I've so gotta call Yolei and tell her about this! It felt great, even though Ken is gonna kill me for it. So, I picked up my phone and dialed Yolei's number. It rang for a few seconds, and then—

"Hello? Inou residence; Yolei speaking." (Me: Did I spell her last name right? If not, please tell me!)

"Hey, Yolei? It's Crystal! Man, do I have a story for you!"

Yolei and I talked on the phone for about half an hour about what happened, both just now and at the mall earlier today. After about half an hour, though, I heard Rachel yelling at me to get off the phone so she could use it. So, I said goodbye to Yolei and hung up. After that, I went to bed, noticing that it was almost 12:00 in the morning. I hoped I wasn't gonna have to wake up to another nightmare the next morning, but boy, was I wrong or what?!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Yay! Chapter 14! I hope you liked it. I couldn't resist making fun of Ken. Sorry to all you die-hard Ken fanatics out there.

Digimon Emperor: (Still lost for words over the 'little talk') You...you...you...

(Evil smile) Yup! Me! Mwa ha ha ha! I'm so evil!

Digimon Emperor: That, you are.

Thanks!

Digimon Emperor: That wasn't supposed to be a compliment.

Oh well, too bad!

Digimon Emperor: Why you little, annoying bi—

(Holds up book)

Digimon Emperor: ...

Thought so. Bye everybody!

Digimon Emperor: --...


	15. Surpise Guest

It's been quite a while since Ken's last attempt to get to me, but that could be a bad thing instead of a good thing. It's been about three months now since I came home, and I couldn't be happier to be back.

(Me: Sorry if the time jump kinda confused anybody.) Everything is pretty much back to normal again, except for the fact that I have to keep an eye out nowadays for Ken Ichijouji.

School started a few weeks ago. It's going great. It turns out that the teacher I had last year, before my little "disappearance" that is, has switched to teaching one grade higher. So, the teacher I had in the 7th grade, Ms. Mizuno, is now my teacher again this year in the 8th grade. And boy, was she ever surprised to see me back.

(Me: Yes, I _do_ mean Mizuno as in Ami Mizuno from "Sailor Moon", but no, this is _not_ turning into a crossover. I just couldn't resist! It was _too_ perfect!)

And guess what! It turns out that I've been going to the same school as Davis and them all along. It's kinda weird how I never noticed them before. I guess it's 'cause we never talked to each other or anything like that.

Oh well…Now, we're all the best of friends! We do a lot of stuff together. I guess we all have way more in common than we originally thought that we would.

And this year, it turns out that we're also all in the same class. Well, all those who are the same age as me, anyway. (Me: I know, I know, couldn't happen. But hey, let's just say that it has, for story purposes.)

How bizarre is that?! I still remember what Ms. Mizuno said when she saw how excited we all were over the coincidence.

"Oh no…This is going to be a long year…" she'd sighed as she smiled, shaking her head slightly. I only smiled back when I heard that and turned back to Yolei, who had been chatting away to me the entire time, completely unaware of what the teacher had just said about the situation at hand.

'She's probably right, ya know,' was what I was thinking to myself, smiling as I walked to school that day, reminiscing on what had happened a few weeks ago. Then I remembered something that had happened yesterday. Ms. Mizuno announced that some students from the college a couple of miles from here are coming to my school today.

She said that they were all coming for "a study of the behavioral habits of today's teens" or some crap like that. The people follow specific kids around all day and observe them or something like that. And I've been asked to let one of them follow me around all day today. 'Hm…I wonder what poor sucker's gonna get stuck following me around. They're gonna be bored outta their wits, that's for sure. Oh well…'

And, with that, I was at school. I went inside and got to class, still slightly wondering whom it would be.

As I sat down in my desk, which was, of course, right in the middle of all my other friends' desks, Yolei started to talk to me energetically. "Hey Crys, did you catch 'Fear Factor' last night?"

"Yeah," I replied, "it was awesome!"

"Dude, you could _never_ get me to do that! I mean, letting someone put a bunch of snakes all over me? No friggin' way!" I'm really not surprised about that, knowing Yolei.

"That looked like so much fun!"

Yolei looked at me as if I'd suddenly grown a second head or something like that. "You're insane!"

"Yup!"

"Really? What was you're first clue?" We both turned to see TK smiling at us.

"Ha ha, very funny! Oh yeah? Well, what about the time that you thought no one else was around and I walked in on you wearing that stupid jester's hat, and dancing and singing along to—" TK clapped a hand over my mouth to shut me up.

He laughed nervously. "Let's not go into that right now," he said, while trying to keep me from pulling away from him.

I finally pulled his hand away from me after a few seconds, though. "Barney!"

He slapped his hand back over my mouth again. "Shut up, Crystal!"

Yolei was laughing her head off and so was I. TK sighed and removed his hand.

Then, Ms. Mizuno began to speak. "Good morning class. Today we're pleased to have some students from the local college here today. I hope you'll make them all feel welcome. They will be walking around the school, observing. And, as it turns out, one of our very own has been chosen to let one of these students follow her around—"

There was a knock on the door; whoever it was finally got here.

Ms. Mizuno went to the door and greeted the visitor. "Class, please make our guest feel welcome," she said as he walked in. I had turned around and was talking to Yolei as he did so. All of a sudden, I heard Kari gasp and everyone else in our group suddenly became quiet.

Yolei looked towards the front of the room and, almost instantly, her face took on an expression of alarm. I turned around to see what the big deal was with this surprise guest. And it was then that I received the shock of my life…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Sorry guys, I couldn't resist. I had to leave it there. …Ohhhhhhhhhh! The mystery! Who is it? (Like you guys haven't already figured it out!) What's going to happen? Wanna find out? Dun dun duuuunnnn!!! Then, you'll have to wait for the next chapter!

Digimon Emperor: You're evil!

Yup!

Digimon Emperor: (Ignoring last thing said by Diva'sDream) I bet I know what's happening!

Gee, what a surprise! The "genius" has figured it out!

Digimon Emperor: Why you little— (Pulls out whip)

(Pulls out "War and Peace") Bring it on, Sparky!

Digimon Emperor: Ahhhh! (Runs away, covering head)

(Evil smile) Works every time! Bye!


	16. All The Encouragement I Need

'No! Hell no!' I thought to myself as my eyes fell upon the person next to Ms. Mizuno. I couldn't believe my eyes. As he spotted my and his gaze started to pierce into me, I kept asking myself the same questions. 'Isn't he supposed to be in the Digital World? What's he doing here? Oh, why me?!'

It was Ken! I suddenly felt weak, like I was gonna pass out. My body started to tremble, although everyone in the room, save for my fellow digidestined and Ken himself, seemed oblivious to that fact. All I could think was that this was gonna be a _long_ day. "Class, this is Ken Ichijouji. But, I'm sure that you all probably already now that. He will be one of the ones observing today. I hope you will all make him feel welcome," Ms. Mizuno continued, completely unaware of the state I was now in.

I jumped slightly as I felt a light hand on my shoulder. I turned my head to see Kari staring straight at me. "Don't worry," she assured me, "We are _not_ gonna leave you alone even a second today."

I breathed a small sigh of relief. "Thanks."

"No prob."

After Ms. Mizuno was finished with the introduction, she directed Ken to an empty desk that she'd brought in and, unfortunately, put right beside me. 'Shit!' was all I could think as he sat down and smiled at me. That smile may have looked friendly to everyone else, but to the other digidestined and I, it was definitely a threat!

I could feel his eyes on me, boring into me the entire day, although I tried to ignore it. My friends all said that they'd stay with me, and sure enough, they never left my sight the whole time. Pretty soon, it was lunchtime. Oh, this was gonna be interesting. I can tell you that much right now.

The others and I all sat down at our usual table. Ken pulled up a chair and sat in between Davis and me. Before anyone began eating or anything, pretty much everyone at the table besides myself shot Ken a warning glare as if to say, "You'd better not try anything while we're here". Then, the usual conversations began.

Crys? ...Crys? ...Crys!" Yolei yelled, trying to get my attention. I'd been reading and, trust me, when that happens, it's kinda hard to get my attention.

I closed the book and came back to reality. "Yeah?" I asked her as I took a big drink of my Yoohoo bottle.

"Pudding!"

At that word, I spit out the drink in my mouth and cracked up laughing. (Me: Pudding! Hahahaha! "She said 'pu' and then 'dding'!" Pudding! Hahahaha! …What? …So, I happen to think pudding is a funny word. So sue me. …What?! …Stop staring at me like that! Will you just read already?!)

Everyone else started laughing at that and Ken was looking at us all like we were completely insane. As soon as I got over my laughing fit, I threw a balled-up napkin at Yolei, which hit her square in the head. "Hey!" was all she said as she threw it back. Pretty soon, we were throwing the thing back and forth like we were playing a game of Catch or Hot Potato. After about 30 seconds of that, the napkin flew over and hit Ken in the face. When that happened, everyone else looked at each other for a second. Then, we just started to laugh our heads off. Let me tell you, Ken did _not_ look amused, though.

As soon as I got over my laughing fit, I looked at him. "Dude," I said to him, "being the Emperor must really take a toll on your sense of humor." Ken gave me a look at though he wanted to kill me, which probably wasn't too incredibly far from the truth. He reached into his backpack, took out a piece of paper and a pen, and wrote something down on the piece of paper. Then, he folded it up and put it in front of me. I took the paper up in my hand and opened it, reading what it said.

"_You betrayed me …and I don't accept betrayal…Goodbye, little girl."_

My eyes went wide when I saw that. I'd all but forgotten about that in the time since I'd first seen the message. I began to tremble and could feel Ken's gaze on my face. I looked at him; he was smiling at me wickedly. Pretty soon, though, Davis had gotten up from his original spot at the table and had sat down between Ken and me. Then, Kari, who'd been sitting next to me the entire time, put a reassuring arm around my shoulder.

That small encounter left me a little shaken, I must say. Throughout the rest of the day, my friends wouldn't let Ken within three feet of me. I tried to avoid his gaze for the rest of the day as well, but found it hard in my next period class. My language arts teacher, Ms. Meioh (and yes, Meioh as in Trista Meioh, also from Sailor Moon. Again, I just couldn't resist), gave us a small project to do in class; one of those stupid little "getting to know a person around you better" project.

The whole concept was that we had to be paired up with another person in the room and fill out a paper with some questions on it, for instance, "what's your favorite food" type of questions. Pretty much everyone groaned in disappointment at that one. And to top it all off, Ms. Meioh decided that she was gonna pick our partners for us. So, she went down the list, pairing everyone off. Much to Kari's dismay, she got paired up with Davis. And TK and Cody got paired up.

When she finally called my name, I silently prayed that she wasn't gonna pair me with who I knew in the back of my mind that she would. "Crystal, since our guest today is here to see you, why don't you pair up with him on this; give our Mr. Ichijouji here something to do."

I nodded my head at her decision but cursed under my breath. So, we got our papers and started work on the project. About half-way through, though, Ken wrote down the answer to the question I'd just told him and then put the pencil down and stared at me intensely. 'Oh no, this is bad,' I thought to myself as I stared back at him, trying not to show any fear, which was starting to build up inside of me. "Yes?" I got up the nerve to ask him.

He paused slightly before answering my question with one of his own. "Crystal, what makes you think that you can just betray me and get away with it? I mean, you should know me well enough by now to know that I simply cannot allow for such treachery." His steady, expressionless gaze suddenly took on a slight hint of a certain emotion. What was that emotion, you ask? Anger. That's what it was…Anger.

Although I was slightly intimidated by this, I knew that he could do nothing to me there and got up the courage to answer mockingly, "Well, I'm succeeding so far, aren't I? I think that's all the encouragement I need to keep fighting you off. Wouldn't you say so, Pretty Boy?" I ended my statement with a pleased smile at his expression. No longer had it only a _slight_ hint of anger hidden within it. He looked downright _pissed_ now! He didn't say anything to me for the rest of the day; he only gave me really nasty looks whenever I acknowledged him.

Finally, the school day ended and we were finally outta there for the weekend. Everyone else and I all walked to the park, where we usually all went for about half an hour after school. On the way there, I was startled when someone shoved past me roughly, slipping something into my hand as he went by. I looked at the person and found that it was Ken, but he walked away quickly before anyone could say anything to him. After he was out of sight, I looked at what he'd put into my hand. Again, it was that same note…

"_You betrayed me …and I don't accept betrayal…Goodbye, little girl."_

At seeing it, I simply glared toward where I'd last seen him. He was trying to get control of me. I knew it and sure as hell wasn't about to let that happen…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: (Looks at the expression the Digimon Emperor is giving her.) No, wait. Let me guess…I'm evil, right?

Digimon Emperor: …Yeah. Yeah, you are.

Isn't it great?

Digimon Emperor: Yeah, great. (Under his breath) About as great as a toothache.

(Eyes glow red for about a second) What was that?

Digimon Emperor: 0o Nothing! Nothing at all!

(Angel look) Thought so…

Digimon Emperor: (Under his breath) Boy, if I could get that book away from that little brat I'd—

(Demon roar)

Digimon Emperor: —Tell her what a wonderful little angel she is. (Cheezy smile)

(Angel look, smiles sweetly) Buh-bye everyone. Chapter 17 is coming soon!


	17. Party Preparations

I almost nodded off and fell asleep in my cereal bowl. I was so tired that all I wanted to do was go back to bed. I couldn't, though; I had to go down to the rec. center and help set up the building for the big Halloween party tonight. Dude, this party was gonna rock! And ya wanna know the best part? They put me in charge of setting up the haunted house! This is gonna be so much fun! 'Cause guess what tonight is! …Yup! Halloween!

So, as soon as I finished my breakfast, I had Dad drive me to the rec. center. Davis and them were waiting for me in the parking lot when I arrived. After I said goodbye to Dad, we went inside and started to work on the place. But one thing was keeping me from fully participating that day…

I kept thinking about the dream I had last night. Ya know, I've been having nightmares every night since I got back home. It's been about four months that I've been home now and the nightmares are still occurring. I really don't know what to do. I've told Rubymon about them, making her swear not to tell anyone else so as not to alarm them and cause any unneeded stress; she's been a great help to me, but I'm still worried. (Me: Sorry if the time jump kinda confused some people.)

I don't know what to make of it. I mean, sure, it could be just a normal reaction for all I've been through. But, isn't it possible that, maybe, Ken is causing them at his will. I mean, he is able to do that—at least that's what he told me. Maybe he's trying to torture me, or pressure me into coming back to him. I mean, I really don't know about this anymore. It's starting to get frustrating. Well, whatever the cause of them, I kept going back to the dream from last night in my mind.

(Me: Oh, great! Here we go again!)

'…_Can't stop…Gotta get away…Oh God! …Somebody please help me!' That's what was going through my mind as I ran through the thick woods, Ken closing that gap between himself and me. On his tyrannomon, there was no way I could outrun him and I knew it. I had to think of something fast…or else I'd probably be killed by his own hand._

_I recognized the area I was in. I looked to my left and saw the hollow tree I'd slept in a few nights ago and I also noticed that Ken couldn't see me at the moment; there were trees in the way. 'Well… At least it's better than nothing,' I thought to myself as I crawled into it quickly._

"_Where are you, little girl?!" I heard Ken's voice and then what sounded like trees being taken down, no doubt probably the work of Ken's tyrannomon. "I promise I won't…Well, I won't kill you, at least—yet." (That was probably his idea of some sick joke.) Then the next sound I heard was that of Ken leaping from the digimon, landing with the grace of a cat on the ground below him. _

'_Typical Ken to expect me to just give up and let him take me! Yeah, good luck! Not happenin' there, Sparky!' was what I was thinking at that point, while at the same time trying to remain as hidden in the shadows of the tree as I could. But that didn't last too long as I suddenly saw his shadow on the ground just outside of where I was._

"_Oh, Crystal, you don't actually think that I don't know you're there, do you?" A cold laugh rang out, and then—"Come here, little one." I saw it coming but I had no means of getting away from it. He was reaching his hand in, trying to grab me. I tried to press myself against the back of the trunk as I possibly could, but it wasn't enough. _

_I closed my eyes and looked to the floor out of fear as his hand got closer. Within a few seconds, my head had snapped back up as I felt his hand enclose tightly around my wrist. He started to pull me out of my hiding spot, and I wasn't strong enough to get away from him. "Hello, Crystal," he said to me cruelly as he came into view. I screamed and tried desperately to get away from him. _

_Unfortunately, that only succeeded in making him even angrier, especially when I kicked at him to try and get him off of me. He raised his hand threateningly in reply to my struggling and slapped me with more force than ever before, knocking me to the ground. I looked down at the earth below me as he started to laugh cruelly and then raised his whip, bringing it down with full-force on me as I screamed louder than ever before he—_

"Crystal? Are you ok?"

"What?" I jumped at hearing the sudden voice from right behind me and whirled around, my eyes wide, to see Kari staring at me in concern. I let out a sigh of relief as soon as I saw who it was. "Oh, yeah Kari. I'm alright."

"Are you sure? You're looking really pale right now."

"Yeah. Don't worry about me; I'm fine."

"Alright; if you're sure."

"Yeah. Thanks, Kari." I smiled at her kindly and then looked beside me on the table. Rubymon was staring at me, a concerned expression on her face. I smiled at her reassuringly and then turned back to Kari.

She returned my gesture with a smile of her own. "Ok." She looked around at the rec. center before turning back to me. "This place is starting to look great."

Yeah," I said, taking a look around for myself and thinking the same thing. "We're gonna have this place turned into an awesome Halloween party in no time. This is gonna be so cool." Kari agreed and then offered to help me set up the coffin that we were gonna have Matt lay in at the party, acting like a vampire. (Me: Ha ha! Poor Matt!)

She and Yolei were done painting and setting up all the fake tombstones already. I gladly accepted her help and figured that we'd probably be all done with the haunted house in a couple of hours from now.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

By late afternoon, all of the party preparations were done and the entire place looked great! I looked at my watch to check the time. It was 6 o' clock. The party starts at 7. "Ooh, hey, you guys. It's already 6. We gotta start getting our costumes on for the party. We've only got an hour."

So with that, we all went into the locker rooms and got into our costumes and our make-up and everything else that we needed for that night, our excitement mounting with each passing minute. It took me a while to get into my witch costume, but when I was finally finished, I liked what I saw. This was gonna rock! This was definitely gonna be a Halloween to remember!

…Little did I know that it was gonna be in more ways than one…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Sorry, guys, but that's all you're getting for now. I couldn't help but leave it there. What did I mean when I said that "little did I know" line? What's gonna happen next? Ooh, the mystery! Dun dun duuuuuuunnnnnnnnn!

Digimon Emperor: Uhhhh…Ok…Diva'sDream? Yeah, you've lost it.

Yay for me!

Digimon Emperor: (Sighs exasperatedly) Ok, ya know what! I give up. There is no hope for you whatsoever!

Uhhhh…Cool!

Digimon Emperor: (Pulls out whip and gets ready to strike) Why you—!

(Throws her trusty book at his head—once again, it's a direct hit!)

Digimon Emperor: Ow!

(Smiles evilly) Gotta love me!

Digimon Emperor: I'm gonna—!

(Gets out her copy of "War and Peace" and throws that at his head—Do I really need to say 'direct hit' again)

Digimon Emperor: (Gets knocked unconscious)

(Smiles evilly) Ooh! Now I get to do what I've always wanted to do! Excuse me while I go get my make-up kit.

Diehard-Ken-Fans-Who-Probably-Hate-Me-By-Now: No! (Tries to kill me through the computer)

Uhhhh…Aren't you guys forgetting something? You can't get me here! You're all out there and I'm safe at my home. And none of you know where I live! Na na! (Sticks out tongue) Bye! (Goes to get make-up kit as Diehard-Ken-Fans-Who-Probably-Hate-Me-By-Now keep yelling—)

Diehard-Ken-Fans-Who-Probably-Hate-Me-By-Now: (Still trying to kill me through the computer) No! Get back here you evil little witch!


	18. Amethyst Eyes

"Izzy, have you seen my cape?" I heard Matt asking from next-door in the boys' locker room.

"No."

"You mean this?" I heard Mimi whisper. All of the other girls and I turned towards the pink-haired-girl-turned-fairy, who had a black cape enclosed in one of her hands. We all started laughing hysterically. I rushed over to Mimi and took the cape from her, hiding it under the bench. Then, we all continued getting ready for the party.

As I put on the finishing touches of my make-up, Rubymon came up and took a look at me. "Wow!" she said. "I can hardly recognize you. Pretty convincing 'Evil Sorceress' costume. You look beautiful!"

"Thanks!" I turned to her and smiled. (I wasn't wearing anything make-up that looked cheezy and totally fake like the stuff to turn your skin green. I was actually wearing regular make-up, except a lot of it for dramatic affect and powder to make my skin look paler that it already was.) "And it's a good thing that your fur is black. You'll make a great black cat tonight."

"Thanks. …So," Rubymon shifted awkwardly in place, "you wanna talk about it?" She looked up at me after saying this, awaiting my reply, that concerned expression from earlier back on her face. I started to say that I didn't know what she was talking about, but then I stopped and sank down on the bench next to me. Rubymon climbed onto it, sitting next to me and waited silently for me to begin.

So, I told her about the dreams that I'd been having. After I finished, Rubymon told me, "Well, I'd say for you to be on your guard. And if you run into any problems, you know you could always come to us for help."

"Yeah, I know. You guys will always be there for me, and that's what gives me comfort when I've had one of those dreams. I know that if something goes wrong, you all will be at my side in an instant. And I thank you guys for it." I smiled at Rubymon. She smiled back at me. It felt so good to finally tell someone about this. It felt as if a big weight had been lifted from off of my chest. I let out a sigh of relief and took a peek out the locker room door, at the haunted house over to my left. "This is gonna be great!"

"Yeah. And I think I can speak for all of the other digimon when I say that we're happy that we could be a part of it."

"No problem."

"Hey girls, what's up?" Rubymon and I both turned towards the voice to find Sora standing behind us, all dressed up in her 19th century girl-ghost costume.

"Nothin' much. You look great, Sora," I told her.

She smiled. "Thanks."

"Hey, everyone," Kari, called out, coming back into the locker room from talking to Joe outside. "Just to let you know, the party's gonna start in about 15 minutes. We're all gonna have to get into our places in the haunted house in about five minutes." Everyone nodded in agreement, and then hurried to finish up any last-minute touch-ups or preparations before we had to get in our places.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Welcome, Little Pretty," I said to the girl coming into the haunted house in a creepy voice, petting the snake around my neck, Rubymon at my feet and a cauldron sitting in front of me. She kind of looked at me, obviously surprised, nervous even, and kept moving so as not to get separated from her friends.

'Hmm, she looked a little paranoid,' I thought to myself as I turned towards the entrance to the house, waiting for the next person to come in. 'Then again, it could also have something to do with Delilah here,' I thought as I glanced down at the snake I'd placed around my neck for effect. Who says that having a pet python doesn't have its perks?

While waiting for the next person to come in, a sudden weird feeling washed over me. It felt like something was about to happen, but I didn't know what. I tried to ignore the feeling, but it only got stronger with each passing second. My unease must've showed, because the next thing I knew, Rubymon was tugging at my gown. "Are you ok?" she asked me as I looked down at her.

"Uh-huh," is all I could think of to say, not wanting to spoil her good time by making her worry about something that might not even happen. So then, I sighed and tried to forget the feelings of worry and tried, instead, to focus on how much fun I was having. This was my favorite holiday and I was determined to enjoy it as much as I could. Knowing my luck, it's more like I'd better have fun while it lasts.

It took a few minutes, but finally, the curtains began to part as someone stepped through—it was a boy. He looked like he was around my age, about 14 or so, like myself. And that was only a guess because of how tall he was. It was so dark in there that I couldn't see much more than an outline of a boy.

He had his back turned to me, obviously distracted by one of my friends from school dressed as a werewolf. He didn't really look scared by the whole werewolf act, so I hoped to at least startle him while he didn't know I was behind him. As soon as he got close enough, I got close to his ear and cackled, "Welcome, Young One."

The boy turned towards me at this, and I was slightly disappointed as he did this without even jumping in surprise. I was expecting him to look nervously at me and then shuffle away quickly. But, instead, I gasped in surprised fright as I found a pair of all-too-familiar amethyst eyes staring straight into mine…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!! Like you don't know who that is already. It's kinda obvious, isn't it? It's kinda predictable that it's gonna be little Mr. Ego Trip over there. (Points to Digimon Emperor)

Digimon Emperor: Yay! Time to have some more fun! (Realizes what Diva'sDream just called him) –Hey!

…Uhhhh…Yeah…Whatever…

Digimon Emperor: (Looks pissed off) You little brat.

Brat?

Digimon Emperor: Yeah, brat—

Hmm… that's an interesting thing to call me… (Takes out a dictionary) Jee…I wonder how much it would hurt to get hit by this thing. Hey Ken, wanna find out? (Evil smile)

Digimon Emperor: 0o (Backs away slowly)

Thought so. (Puts dictionary away)

Digimon Emperor: (Looks pissed off again as Diva'sDream just sits there, smiling evilly at him) Yeah, yeah, I get the idea. Just do your little end-of-the-chapter spiel.

I could if you'd shut the hell up!

Digimon Emperor: (Mockingly) I could if you'd shut the hell up.

(Eyes dictionary)

Digimon Emperor: 0o ………………

(Reaches for it, smiling evilly again)

Digimon Emperor: (Runs for it)

(Watches him flee) Ok then! (Turns back to reader) I hope you liked this chapter. The story is coming to the big finish—Bum bum buuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmm. Chapter 19 is coming soon. See ya then!


	19. Awaiting Death

I became instantly paralyzed with fear, my respiration rate increasing dramatically. Rubymon, who was sitting beside me acting like a witch's black cat, got up quickly and hissed at him, her back arching. Ken just glared at her for a split second, a terrifying scowl visible on his face.

Then, it happened. He made sure none of the other digidestined were watching as he kicked Rubymon against the wall, knocking her out cold, and grabbed me, clapping a hand over my mouth so I couldn't scream or call out for help. Then, he proceeded to drag me out of the building through an exit door behind the curtain beside me.

As soon as we were outside, he let me go, except that he still had a hand over my mouth, his other hand clamped tightly on my arm, and he slammed me against the wall. He used his own body weight to pin me against the wall. He let go of my arm, his other hand still on my mouth, and brought one finger to his lips and shushed me, glaring at me menacingly the entire time.

"Well, hello, Crystal. Did you miss me? 'Cause I know I missed torturing you. Now, I'll take my hand away from your mouth, but you've got to promise me that you won't scream. If you do, there's gonna be trouble. Understand?" He shook me ever so slightly to emphasize his point. I tried to struggle against him, but found that he was too strong for me. He simply held me in place, sneering down at me maliciously.

After about 30 seconds of struggling, I finally got tired and calmed down, unable to fight against him anymore. At noticing this, Ken simply laughed cruelly, still glaring down at me. "Really, Crystal, I would've expected better from you. Better be careful, dear. After this whole act of defiance against me, you're starting to make me think that you need me to teach you your place all over again. You don't want me to have to do that, now do you?" That being said, all I could do was to stare up at Ken like a deer in headlights, completely terrified. I shook my head, praying that he might have mercy on me.

"No? Oh, what a good girl you're being now that I'm a fatal threat to you again." He slowly took his hand away from my mouth, watching my actions carefully for any signs that I might act against him again. I didn't. I was too afraid to do anything against him at the moment. It wouldn't have been a wise choice if I had, I assure you. "Now, come on. We're gonna calmly walk to my place and go back to the Digital World through my computer. And you are _not_ going to fight against me on the way there. Got it?" I nodded then. "Good. Now, come with me."

And with that, he started to drag me away, holding me at the wrist. On the way to Ken's place, we passed by a couple of people who knew me and waved to me, greeting me on the street. I just tried to act as normal as possible and acknowledge them back, trying to work a smile onto my face. It didn't really work to well. One of my friends that I passed gave me a concerned look as Ken and I passed her by.

Soon, we were at the front door of Ken's apartment. Ken opened the door and pushed me in. "Mom," he called as soon as he had closed the door, "I'm home!" There was no reply. "Mom?" he called out again. Again, nothing.

He turned to me then, a please smirk playing on his face. "It seems as if no one is home. Perfect," he snickered at me. "Oh, and just to let you know…Now, feel free to fight and struggle against me all you want. It won't do you much good, but if it'll make you feel better, than go ahead and scream and kick and hit as much as your little heart desires."

That's when he started to drag me towards his room. But, I didn't go without a fight! As he tried to force me to go with him, I screamed at him. I tried to stomp on his feet. I dug my nails into his arm. I even bit him, which, if you wanna know the truth, did make him let me go. But my little taste of freedom didn't last too long.

I made a run for the door, only to find out that it was locked when I got there. I was so panicked that I fumbled with trying to unlock the door. Just as I got the lock undone and opened the door about an inch, a strong hand connected with the door, slamming it shut again and the another arm wrap around my waist, pulling me back the other way.

"I have to admit, little girl, that was a pretty nice try. But not quite good enough, I'm afraid." I struggled against him fiercely once again. "Oh come, come now. Let's get back to the Digital World. You want to see Wormmon again, don't you? No sense it keeping him waiting. Let's go, dear."

And so, he dragged me into his room and shut the door, locking it so I couldn't get out. Then, he opened up the Digiportal, and before I knew it, we were in the familiar surroundings I knew so well as the dungeon of Ken's base. We stopped when we were in front of one of the cells. Ken made me face him then. At first, I couldn't find my voice, but I finally did a couple of seconds later.

"K-Ken, I—" I began stammering, only to be cut off by Ken shushing me, his finger pressed against my lips. Oh, what I wouldn't have given at the moment, just to get him away from me. But sadly, I don't think that was an option for now. Although, just to make myself feel even the slightest bit better, I bit the finger he idiotically put to close to my face. Ken pulled his hand back and gave a slight gasp of pain.

I felt satisfied with what I'd just done, that is, until he drew back his hand and slapped me hard across the face, causing me to fall to the floor. I tried to get over the shock of the slap as he pulled me to my feet, but it was hard considering how frightened I was at that point. "Why you little brat!"

"Ken, please—"

"No, no, Crystal. You lost the privilege of calling me by that name when you ran off and disobeyed me in such a way." Suddenly, his arrogant and cruel smirk completely disappeared, replaced by a look of pure anger and spite. "From now on, you will address me as Master. Is that clear?"

Ken squeezed my shoulders painfully, causing me to wince in pain. Tears started to well in my eyes as my fear grew increasingly by the second. I tried to speak, but my voice caught in my throat. I shook my head slowly in disbelief, unable to fully comprehend what was going on, the tears about ready to fall. I tried to speak again, and only managed to utter a weak, "Please—", before Ken interfered by shaking me violently, slamming my back against the bars of the cell. As soon as the cold steel bars smashed into my back, I let out an anguished cry of pain and the tears that had been stinging my eyes finally fell.

"Stop crying and answer me, little runt! I said, 'Is that clear!'" He slammed me against the bars once more.

Seeing no way around the command and how dangerous it would've been to refuse, I lowered my head in defeat. "Yes," I replied in a submissive tone, only to be slapped again by Ken and have his hand wrap around my throat.

"Yes what?"

"Yes, M-Master," I whispered, trembling, my eyes closed, having to force the last word out as a result of the sheer humiliation and defeat that I felt, my cheeks burning. Plus, there was still that part of me who wanted to resist him, but right now, was fighting a loosing battle.

'_What the hell am I ever going to do? Ken's gonna end up killing me; I know it! If I don't get away, sooner or later, I'm gonna die!' _I thought to myself as Ken chuckled, obviously satisfied at having finally regained control over my every move for the most part. Oh, how I hated him for the situation I was in, but there was nothing I could about it at the moment. I'd surely loose if I fought against him again.

"Good girl," he said to my in an oily voice that sent shivers up and down my spine. At seeing me shiver, a sinister smile spread across Ken's face. "Now then," he continued, starting to push me backwards into the cell, "I suggest that you get used to this cell. It's gonna be your new home until the day you die. Oh, but don't you worry now." Ken all of a sudden shoved me backwards into the cell with such force that I crashed into the wall of the cell, crying out in pain, and slid down to the ground.

I lifted my head up just in time to see Ken slam the cell door shut practically in my face, seeing as how small the cell was. "I won't keep you awaiting death for _too_ long." He let out another deep, malicious chuckle as he left the dungeon, the door leading to the rest of the base making a huge _crash_ as it shut, blocking out the majority of the light in the room, except for the small amount of light still emitting from the tiny barred window at the end of the cell opposite the bars and the door.

I slowly got up, every bone in my body aching from the impact when I hit the wall, and turned so that I was staring out the small window of the cell, looking out into the last-remaining remnants of a star-glittered night sky and a full moon, almost completely covered by clouds by then.

I put my hands on the bars and let out a dispirited sigh, staring out into the darkness I'd been afraid of for as long as I could remember but now longed to escape into with sorrowful eyes. "How am I ever gonna survive this?" I choked out before I started to cry again, lowering my gloomy gaze to the floor and then closing my eyes altogether. Then, I lowered myself into a corner of the cell, hugged my knees tightly to my chest, sunk my face into my knees and wept while the light pitter-patter sound reached my ears as it began to rain just outside the cell.

_'What am I _ever_ going to do?'_ …

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A/N: (Sniffling) Well, there you have it. Chapter 19 is done.

Digimon Emperor: (Does happy dance) Yes! I'm winning, I'm winning, I'm winning, I'm—Ow! (Rubs new bump the size of a baseball on head and look at what just smashed into it.)

(Smiles evilly)

Digimon Emperor: (Gives Diva'sDream an incredibly irritated look)

(Laughing) Hey, I was right! It _does_ leave a bump on your head the size of Texas when you get hit by a dictionary!

Digimon Emperor: (Pulling out whip) Why you evil little—! (Gets hit with "War and Peace" and is knocked unconscious)

(Stares at Digimon Emperor) Yay! Another makeover time! Excuse me while I go get my make-up kit again. (Walks away)

Diehard-Ken-Fans-Who-Probably-Hate-Me-By-Now: No! (Tries to kill me through the computer again)

(Searching for make-up kit) Oh, and chapter 20 is coming soon. Be patient—the story is starting to draw to a close! Buh-bye people!


	20. Not Again! Please!

I could here the rain start to fall harder than before outside the cell, although, I couldn't bring myself to lift my head up to look at it. I simply stayed still, crying, my face buried in my knees. I was trapped again. I swore to myself I'd never let this happen to me, not again, but sadly, it looks as though it has.

"_Oh God! I can't believe this is happening to me! Not again! Why can't he just leave me alone?" _I thought to myself as I tried hard to block out everything—Ken, my current situation—everything and everyone. I tried to escape inside my head, where I usually hid when something went wrong. It didn't work. I couldn't escape it, escape _him_; I just couldn't! I feared that I never would. Everything I once knew was starting to unravel on me again, and I mean fast! I just didn't know what to do! I—

"Crystal? …Crystal, are you alright, Sweetie? It's Wormmon. Crystal?" I heard that caring, all-too familiar voice interrupt my thoughts. I lifted my head up in surprise, and, for the first time since Ken got me back, delight. The green figure in front of me was quite blurry due to the tears still falling from my eyes, but I knew undoubtedly that it was my friend, Wormmon.

"Wormmon…?"

"Crystal!"

"Wormmon!" Wormmon effortlessly slipped right through the bars of the cell and was right in front of me now. I let my knees fall and then got onto my knees and opened up my arms wide. He jumped into them and we hugged each other as if we'd not seen one another in years. "Oh my God, I've missed you so much, Wormmon!"

We broke away from the hug and he smiled up at me with those huge blue eyes of his. "I've missed you, too. I was worried that I'd never see you again."

"Yeah, same here."

"Are you alright? Ken hasn't hurt you, has he?" The concern was evident in Wormmon's voice as he asked me this.

I didn't wanna upset him with what happened when Ken told me to call him "Master", so I lied. "No, thankfully, he hasn't. How about you? Are you alright? Has he harmed you since I left?" I was really afraid at what his answer might be, but I asked anyway. I simply had to know this.

I saw a look incredibly similar to the look I get when I lie as he paused for a second, and then replied, "No."

I couldn't help but laugh as I thought of this. "It seems as though we're both bad liars, doesn't it?" He smiled at me and then joined in with my laughter. After a few seconds, I stopped laughing and just listened to him laugh. "Oh, how I've missed our little conversations that always seem to end with us laughing like this…" I hugged him again.

"Aww…It's a Kodak moment. I should get my camera."

My smile faded as I quickly looked up over Wormmon's head at the familiar voice mocking me from the other side of the steel bars. Ken was standing there, watching us, a mocking smirk on his face.

Wormmon started to tremble in my arms, and I was beginning to get nervous as well. I followed him like a hawk, my eyes fixed on him, as he moved to the door of the cell, opened it, and stepped in. He walked calmly up to us, until he was towering over Wormmon and I.

All of a sudden, his smile faded. He looked angry again. "Wormmon, I thought I told you to get one of my slaves ready for battle, since it seems as though those little digi-twirps aren't willing to give her up without a fight." He nodded in my direction, continuing to glare at Wormmon menacingly.

Wormmon was shaking badly by now. "I-I already did that, K-Ken," he stammered. My eyes widened at hearing this. I knew what was coming next.

Ken suddenly picked Wormmon up by his neck, slammed him against the wall, and yelled, "How many damn times have I told you to _never_ call me Ken!" Wormmon whimpered softly, quivering terribly.

I jumped up suddenly, grabbing Ken's other arm to stop him from harming Wormmon further. "Ken, please stop! Don't hurt him! _Please!_" I pleaded with him. Ken simply threw me off of him, shoving me to the ground. I cried out in surprise as my knees smacked against the cold, hard stone floor.

Ken then threw Wormmon out the door of the cell, shouting, "Now, get out of here!" Wormmon got up, too terrified by shock to move at first. But he suddenly ran as fast as his little legs could go as Ken added, "I said, '_Now_'!" I watched as Wormmon left, relieved a bit that he was away from Ken's wrath, at least for now, anyway.

Ken suddenly whirled back around on me, glowering down at me as though I were a bug to be squashed. Before I could react, Ken pulled me to my feet by my hair and pinned me up against the wall fiercely, letting go of my hair then, only to wrap that hand around my throat as I dangled there, gasping for air, my feet not even touching the ground.

"_What_ have I told you about calling me that!" he hissed at me through clenched teeth, shooting daggers at me with his eyes. I felt the tears start to well up and sting my eyes as I started to tremble uncontrollably, the fear unmistakable in my expression.

I tried to answer, but only managed a small stutter, which was cut off by Ken shaking me slightly all of a sudden as he growled, "Don't _ever_ call me Ken! Remember, it's 'Master' to you now, little girl." He then threw me to the ground roughly. I cried out as I hit the ground.

As he began to step towards me again, I crawled backwards until I found myself in the corner of the cell and couldn't go any further, trembling and crying, my voice a soft whimper as I brought my knees up to my chest again. "I've waited so long for this opportunity. I've waited so long to be able to beat you all I want. And now, I finally get my chance."

He continued to glare at me forebodingly as he reached inside the folds of his cape. I gasped in terror at this gesture and tried to hug myself even tighter to the wall. I knew exactly what the gesture meant. I remembered it perfectly well from the last time.

"Oh God, no! Not again, please!" was all I had the time to yell out before I had to twist my body around again to protect my exposed limbs as Ken raised his whip in the air and sent it rushing down upon me…

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A/N: Well, there's chapter 20.

Digimon Emperor: You just _had_ to stop it at the cliffhanger, didn't you.

Uhhhh…Yup! Serves you right, youevil littlebastard!

Digimon Emperor: Why younasty little— (Gets knocked unconscious before he can finish the sentence)

(Looks at who hit him) Hey, midnight breezy!

midnight breezy: Hi! Oh, and here's your book back. (Hands Diva'sDream "War and Peace")

Thanks!

midnight breezy: No problem. Ken's gonna _kill_ me when he wakes up, but it was still fun as hell to do!

I bet!

Digimon Emperor: (Asleep) Mommy, I want my blankey!

00 …Uhhhh…Ok…Weirdo!

midnight breezy-…Yeah…

Well anyways, chapter 21 is coming up soon! Sorry about the cliffhanger—couldn't help it! Lol!

midnight breezy: Buh-bye people!

Bye!


	21. I'm Not Finished With You Yet!

He wouldn't stop. No matter how much I begged and pleaded for him to stop, he wouldn't. It must've gone on for at least an hour or so. He just kept on hitting me and hitting me. I screamed; I tried to crawl away; I cried so much it looked as though my tears were turning into the Nile River, but all to no avail.

"No! Please, stop! Master, please stop!" I kept begging him, but it seemed as though my pleas were never heard, or more likely, simply ignored as he continued to yell at me.

"I'm gonna teach you a lesson you'll not soon forget!"

And all this as he laughed sadistically at my immense pain. That sound…Oh, that sound was maddening. It wasn't the sounds of the whip, or even the sounds of my own screams—it was his laugh that drove me to the brink of insanity. It was that sound that showed no pity, no sympathy whatsoever for a helpless, trapped, and tormented soul.

The searing pain was so excruciating that I barely noticed it when the violent lashes stopped coming at me and all became still despite the enormous tension in the room. I had fallen to the floor by then, panting for breath, and was too weak to lift my head up, but I knew that Ken was still standing over me. I could see his ominous shadow looming on the ground below me.

Even after the lashing stopped, I couldn't bring to an end the steady flow of tears running down my face. My body was wracking from my sobs and it felt hard for me to breathe or even think properly. I was completely panicked.

I prayed for it to be over, for him to just leave me alone, but he wasn't quite finished yet. I then felt his hands encircle me, gentle yet threatening at the same time, and lift me into a sitting position on my knees—one hand around my waist and the other clasped gently onto my upper arm.

The way his touch felt automatically sent shivers down my spine. Oh God, I hated the way he was touching me! It just felt so creepy, so totally wrong that it almost made me feel sick. I pleaded silently for him to just let me go, for him to disappear and to finally leave me alone, the tears still flowing from my eyes, but he didn't.

"M-Master, please—" I tried to beg of him, but he simply shushed me.

"Shhhh…Oh, Crystal…" he said to me in a calm, yet dangerous voice, instead of disappearing like I'd desperately prayed for, "Now do you see what happens as consequence when you disobey me? Now do you see what your foolishness had caused? You brought this upon yourself, you know. The fact that you're suffering so immeasurably is all your fault. If you'd simply stayed with me and done whatever I tell you, this wouldn't be happening to you. But, no, of course, you just had to have everything your own way."

He laughed cruelly then. "You foolish little girl." Then, as if that weren't enough, the hand on my upper arm slid slowly upward until it was on my neck, just below my chin, and Ken pushed my head to one side, tilting it gently to the left. I started to cry even harder, and he embraced me tighter to try and silence me a little. I took the hint and tried to calm down, although, it didn't work all that well.

I suddenly felt immensely sickened to my stomach when he put his mouth so close to my ear that I could feel him warm breath on my skin and his lips just barely touching me, and whispered in a barely audible tone which was soft, yet cruel at the same time, "You betrayed me. And, you know I don't take kindly to betrayal. Now, I'll be back a little later, My Little Kitten."

I still can't believe I didn't throw up with what he did to me then. He gently kissed my neck! That gesture automatically froze me with fear. Then, suddenly, his lips pulled back from my neck and his voice turned into a low, ominous hiss, and his grip on my waist and neck became tighter as he said to me in my ear, "Because I'm not finished with you yet!"

And, with that, Ken shoved me back to the ground, causing me to lightly hit the cold, hard, stone wall. I was too weak to move and remained laying at his feet as he stood up—a dangerous position to be in, considering that he plays soccer so much.

He turned my way and glared down fiercely at me as he gave me a slightly sharp nudge in the stomach with his boot, not quite a kick, but still not a soft gesture. It only succeeded in pressing me against the wall even more as I cried out in pain.

His cape flapped behind him as he then walked out of the cell, slamming the door behind him, and finally left me alone in the cold, dark dungeon to suffer in silence. I laid there for a few seconds, staring after him, the tears starting to lessen as they fell to the ground. Although, not by much at all.

How I survived all of this, I had no idea and still don't, but I did know one thing at that point—I knew that it wasn't over yet. There was still much more to come and I now realized it completely, though everything that I'd just gone through was still trying to register in my brain.

That was what scared me the most. He was planning to torture me even more, I just knew it, and I didn't know how much more of this agony I could take. And I found myself praying just so hard that he wouldn't touch me again like he had just a minute ago, for the feel of his touch was the most terrifying of all…

I tried to get up, to crawl over to the cot that I now was forced to call my bed, to do something other than lie there waiting to die, but the pain was simply too overwhelming. I found myself unable to even move barely at all, aside from lifting myself up onto my elbows if I tried with all of my strength. I'm guessing I must've passed out from the pain then, because everything just went black.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

When I awoke, I noticed that something felt different than what I remembered feeling as I passed out. It was then that I noticed where I was. I was still in the cell I'd been left it, but I was now lying on the cot instead of the floor. _"How in the world did I get up here?"_ I asked myself nervously.

I tried to sit up, bracing myself for the intense wave of pain I knew was to come—Only…it didn't. I sat up in bed and looked at myself. I gasped as I beheld the sight. There were no wounds on me at all! No bruises, no cuts, no slashes, nothing, no evidence at all to suggest that I'd even actually _been_ severely beaten. Hmm…Ya know, maybe I hadn't been beaten after all…

"_Maybe Ken hasn't really come to see me yet at all. Maybe it was all just some horrible dream that I had,"_ I suggested to myself as I closed my eyes and breathed in a sigh of relief. But that sigh suddenly caught in my throat as I opened my eyes and looked at the ground next to the cot, where I "thought" I'd been earlier.

It all took a second to fully register, but then it did. I gasped in terror and my eyes went wide as I saw the thick pool of blood lying there on the floor. As I studied the cot I was sitting on then, I let out a scream of horror as I noticed that the sheet, the blanket, and even the pillow were also covered in dried blood. …My blood.

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A/N: Uhhhh…Wow… There's chapter 21 for you, people. It actually turned out better than I thought it would. (Turns to the Digimon Emperor then and gets really pissed off) You beat the shit outta me! You are one evil little bastard!

Digimon Emperor: (Smiling) Thanks a lot, Diva'sDream. I know I am.

(About to kill the Digimon Emperor) Grrrrr! DIE!

midnight breezy: Wow…That was scary. Uhhhh…Hey! Wait a second!

(Looks at midnight breezy as if to say, "This had better be good!") What!

midnight breezy: I've got a question—Who healed her? (Looks at Digimon Emperor)

Digimon Emperor: (Shrugs) 'Don't think it's gonna be me. 'Must've been Wormmon.

(Evil smile) Maybe, maybe not. We'll find out next time, now won't we?

Both the Digimon Emperor and midnight breezy at the same time: 0o…Uh-oh…

See ya next time, people! Bye!


	22. Salvation

A/N: I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank my best friend Arielle for co-writing Chapter 21 with me! I couldn't have made it so awesomely sadistic without you! …Ok now, on with the story! Here's chapter 22. Enjoy!

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I began to hyperventilate as I beheld the sight. I was completely healed, but my own blood lie everywhere. _"How!"_ was what my mind was screaming, although, I found myself unable to come up with the answer. And it was then that another question arose in my mind. "Who?" I asked out loud.

Before I had time to do anything else, I heard the door crash open and jumped at the sudden noise. I looked at the door, praying it wasn't gonna be Ken. But, unfortunately, it seemed as though my prayers were no longer being answered these days as Ken walked into the room, a cruel smirk playing on his face. Right behind him, a creature walked in that I'd never seen before, Wormmon following close behind them both.

"_What's going on now?"_ I found myself thinking as I watched them enter the dungeon. Although, as Ken began unlocking the cell door to come in, my thoughts quickly turned to one thing—keeping as far away from Ken as I possibly could for as long as I possibly could. I found myself backing into a corner as Ken glared at me.

"Well, whatever is the matter, Dear?" he asked me in mock-sympathy, hissing out that last word in scorn. He walked towards me, stopping when he was only about six inches away. He was trying to make me feel threatened again, trapped. I knew he was. I tried to shrink back, away from his reach as he moved to touch my cheek, but he succeeded in doing so anyway.

"And how is my Little Kitten this morning?" he asked, still in a mocking tone. I was confused by something he'd said just then. This morning? I looked over towards the barred window. Sunlight shone through the small window. Wait…But, it was nighttime and stormy out when he'd beaten me… Had I really fallen into unconsciousness the entire night? It must be so…

As if reading my thoughts, Ken chuckled a bit in amusement and then said, "Yes, Kitten, you did sleep through the night." I looked back to him, my head and stomach, without warning, reeling with a sudden fit of nausea as I began to tremble with fear. My state only seemed to please Ken even more. He smiled at me sadistically and went to wrap his other arm around my waist once again.

I tried to fight him off, but found it of no use. He was too strong and simply gripped me tighter around the waist and placed the hand that was on my cheek on the back of my neck. I quickly became exhausted from the struggle and slumped down slightlywith fatigue, whimpering softly in fear, my head lowered in defeat. He played with my hair using the hand on the back of my neck as he continued. "There's someone I want you to meet, Kitten."

Ken looked behind him at the strange creature that had entered with him and Wormmon. The creature walked up to us until he was almost right beside Ken, probably about a step behind him. He stared down at me, although, unlike Ken's, his face showed absolutely no emotion whatsoever—no pity, no anger, no malice, nothing—nothing at all. "This is Elfmon," Ken told me.

"He's agreed to help me teach you some respect for your new master, since it's clear that you still don't know how to be completely submissive towards me." I looked back and forth from Ken to this new creature called "Elfmon" in shock. How anyone would actually want to help someone as evil as Ken harm another is beyond me, but as I looked again at Elfmon's face, his expression changed. He went from showing no emotion to showing an odd expression on his face.

It looked like a slight hint of remorse for the decision he was making. He'd been trying to avoid my eyes, but then he looked at me, pain visible in his eyes. He didn't wanna hurt me, I could sense it. But it seemed as though he had no choice anymore, since he already agreed with Ken to do this. What did Ken mean by "help him teach me some respect" anyway? Was he gonna have this complete stranger beat me as well? I shudder to think.

In a soft voice, I venture to ask, "A mercenary?"

Ken slapped me really hard across the face and I fell to the floor, caressing my now bruised cheek with on hand. "Did I give you permission to speak!" Ken yelled at me, kicking me sharply in the side. I cried out in pain as I heard a sickening _crack—_one of my ribs was broken. I curled up into a ball to protect myself, crying softly by then, praying to God that Ken wasn't about to whip me again. Surprisingly, he didn't.

As I look up at him fearfully, he simply took a deep breath to calm himself down, still glaring down at me angrily, and spoke, Elfmon, sort of human-like in appearance, still having a look on his face as though he wanted nothing more than to stop Ken's abuse towards me. "In case you must know," he told me, "yes, I guess you could call him a mercenary. …Now, stop with your tears! They don't accomplish anything, except for another beating, that is. So, if you don't want me to beat you again like I did last night, I suggest you stop crying _right now_!"

His voice was an ice-cold growl, sickeningly calm considering the situation, yet angry at the same time; I knew he was deadly serious, so I forced myself to calm down. It didn't work completely, but at least it was enough to satisfy him as he and Elfmon left then without another word, slamming the cell door closed behind them. Only Wormmon remained in the dungeon with me, staring at me in silence sympathetically.

Ken told me not to cry while he was around, but he didn't say anything about after he had left. So, I curled up then, right where I was, in the corner of my cell, trying desperately to ignore the searing pain in my side, and cried, my sobs echoing throughout the dungeon. A few seconds later, I felt a gentle touch caress my shoulder. I looked up then to see Wormmon's big, crystal-blue eyes staring into mine.

I reached a hand up weakly for him. He took the hint and hugged me close, trying to comfort me as best he could. He stayed there with me for about an hour or so, just comforting me by stroking my hair gently and whispering to me things like, "Shhhh, everything's alright now" and "I'm here for you. You're not alone". Pretty soon, I'd fallen asleep to the sound of my friend's comforting voice, finally able to escape the immense pain—at least, for the time being.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

(Me: Hmm…Should I end it there or not? Decisions, decisions…

Everyone-Reading-This-Story: _Keep going!_

Me: Ok, _ok_! Gees! Ahem…)

As I awoke, I lifted my head up slightly, expecting to see Wormmon still comforting me. He wasn't there. I noticed then that my pain was all gone and that I wasn't in the corner of the cell anymore. Again, I was lying on the cot, my wounds gone. As I sat up, I looked around me, confused.

"_Who keeps doing this?"_ I asked myself. _"Wormmon? …Hmm… Perhaps… It couldn't possibly be Ken, could it? And even if it was, why? Why would he be doing this? To torture me, or to help me? …Probably to torture me, knowing Ken's cruel sense of humor. …And that new digimon, Elfmon… It could be him… But, what're his motives for it? …Could he really be just like Ken, interested only in causing me pain? …And what of the expression on his face while Ken was yelling at me? Could it all simply be a façade, trying to hide his true intentions—torture?"_

These questions burned inside of me as my stomach growled. It was then that I remembered that I hadn't had anything to eat since yesterday afternoon. I hoped that Ken didn't have "Starve Crystal" on his to-do-list. And so, I sat there, waiting for whatever Ken was planning to do next, praying desperately for salvation. Whether it be by rescue by the others…or by death, I just wanted to escape from the pain, to awaken from this horrid waking nightmare, to have the torment end—one way or another.

I simply wanted salvation…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Chapter 22 is complete!

Digimon Emperor: You just had to do that to us, didn't you? Leave us wondering who's really healing her and why. …You're evil!

Yep! This is true!

midnight breezy: (Shrugs) Well, can't really say I didn't expect her to leave it there.

Digimon Emperor: (Stares at midnight breezy)

midnight breezy: What?

Digimon Emperor: I…hate…you.

midnight breezy: Then my mission has been accomplished!

Hahaha!

Digimon Emperor: You shut up, you little— (Give ya three guesses, people! …Yep! Gets hit in the head with a phone book)

(Looks at midnight breezy)

midnight breezy: 'Wasn't me.

Then who—? (midnight breezy and her both look at an old lady who suddenly appeared out of nowhere)

Old-Lady-Who-Suddenly-Appeared-Out-Of-Nowhere: Hey, you little hooligans! Get off of my lawn!

(midnight breezy and Diva'sdream at the same time) 0.o…

…Uhhhh…Bye…


	23. Poisoned?

I began to feel weak. I hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon. I was beginning to get really hungry. Was Ken planning to starve me as well? I hoped not. The last thing I needed was for him to add anymore to my torture besides the hell he was already putting me through by then. I couldn't help but wonder then what he was actually planning to do with me, once he got bored with "The Torture Crystal Game". And that's when I remembered something that, I guess, I'd forced myself to forget up until now.

All of the nightmares that I'd had since my escape came flooding back into my mind. All of them. All of the images came streaming back—the ones that made me uncertain whether my own mind had created them in my sleep…or whether they were actually intentionally planted there…by Ken. He _did_ have the ability to do that…didn't he? At least, that's what I'd been told.

_'Hmm! Listen to yourself, Crystal! You're starting to sound crazy now—paranoid! You have to calm down and think more rationally than that or Ken will win!' _That's what I told myself. It was the only thought I could produce at the moment to try and regain some of my mental and emotional stability.

_'Come on, Crystal!'_ I told myself._ 'I mean, you're supposed to be the Child of Willpower for crying out loud! You _have_ to keep fighting! You _can't_ just let Ken win!'_ I was hoping that, maybe, if I kept telling myself that, I'd believe that I still had enough power to fight him. But it didn't work. I was just too exhausted and too weak to believe that I had even the smallest chance at survival anymore. In my mind, and even in my heart, I knew that I hadn't a prayer.

"Why can't he just kill me now and get it over with?" I found myself asking out loud—a thought that surprised even me. Had I really been so defeated that I was actually wishing for death? What was happening to me! Why was I giving in so easily? Me—Crystal Yael Johnson! I mean, my middle name _literally_ means "Strength of God" in Hebrew! Why was I being so weak now! (Me: Hey! Yael's my cousin's name!)

"Because simply killing you wouldn't even be half as entertaining." His voice immediately sent a shiver up and down my spine, even before I looked at him. I looked up to find him standing there, watching me intently as I subconsciously flinched at being caught in his cold gaze. I hadn't even noticed him enter the room. Damn, I hate it when he does that! …But not as much as I hated what he did to me next.

He was carrying with him a tray. And do you know what was on that tray? If you guessed some of the most delicious-looking and -smelling barbequed ribs I'd ever seen in my life, you're right. And, they weren't for me either! I watched longingly as Ken came near the door of the cell, reaching for it as if to come in and give the food to me. But he then pulled his hand away last second and smiled cruelly as he sat down at the table just outside the cell, putting the tray down in front of him. My heart sank and my hopes got thrown out the window as he did this._ 'God, I hate him!'_

I turned away as he started to eat the meal, looking out the small window instead of at him. The sun was just now setting below the horizon and it looked beautiful out there. It looked so much better than the dark, uninviting dungeon of Ken's base. I found myself wishing desperately that I were out there instead of in this man-made hell. But I knew that it wasn't to be. I tried to occupy my mind with other thoughts, besides what was going on behind me. But, it was so hard, since I couldn't escape from that smell—it was practically calling to me.

I bit my lip, fighting back the pain in my stomach from the immense hunger, as well as the tears of anguish that were starting to build up inside of me. I hugged myself as a big gust of wind blew into the cell, blowing my hair back and making me very cold all of a sudden. (Ken made me change out of my witch's costume into rags, probably hoping this would happen. My witch's costume was sure of hell of a lot warmer than the tattered dress I was now wearing.)

I heard Ken snicker lowly behind me. Then, I heard his cold voice, sounding very pleased with himself, beckon me. "Oh, Crystal. Here." He flung something onto the ground next to me. I looked down to see in dismay what it was, still not moving from the position I was standing in, although I already knew what it was going to be. And, sure enough, I found a bone lying at my feet, the meat completely gone from it. I looked back and shot Ken a really dirty look, my eyes narrowed at him angrily.

But then, I turned back and walked up to the window, looking out of it longingly. The sun had set and it was an absolutely beautiful night in the Digital World. The stars were shining bright, reminding me of diamonds lying on a soft blanket of royal-blue satin, or of the eyes of angels watching over me from Heaven. I closed my eyes with pleasure, a feeling that I hadn't felt in a long time, as I was bathed in the light of the full moon, listening to the quietness of it all. If there was one thing I loved, it was the night. It was just so quiet; so calm; so comforting; so…absolutely glorious. It was all this, and yet hypnotically mysterious, and even sort of eerie, at the same time.

I was so wrapped up in my reverie that I didn't even here Ken come in. I just stood there, my eyes closed, my head tilted upward, hugging myself, soaking up the moonlight. But the next thing I knew, my serene state was broken as I felt a pair of arms encircle my waist and a face next to mine. I immediately snapped back to reality and turned my face towards the face to see who it was. I found a pair of cold, amethyst eyes staring into mine, only inches away.

I instantly tried to get away from him, grabbing Ken's hands to try and pull him off of me. Surprisingly, it worked and I was able to get out of his grasp and whirl around to face him. Although, I think he might've let me go purposely. I don't think I could've gotten away from him if he didn't want me to. I breathed heavily with panic as I watched him closely, my eyes wide in fear, my body trembling. "Why, Kitten," he said mockingly then, sneering heartlessly at me as I shivered in disgust, as well as fear, of his touch. "Whatever is the matter?"

"You know perfectly well what's the matter!" That sentence came out of my mouth as a yell before I could suppress it and stop my anger from taking over. I quickly gasped and covered my mouth with my hand, backing up slightly, my eyes wide with a sudden rush of fear. _'Oh Dear God, please don't let him be angry!'_ Much to my surprise, he didn't lash out. He didn't yell at me. He didn't even look as though he were angry. I mean, his eyes narrowed slightly as though he were vaguely irritated by it, but he didn't look pissed of like he tended to when stuff like this happens.

He stared at me hard for a few seconds before growling at me calmly, yet still threateningly, "Alright, here's the deal. I'm feeling generous today, Kitten. I'm willing to simply forgive you for your little outburst—just this once, though! But it better not happen again, or otherwise, I can't guarantee that your back will be out of whipping range. Am I making myself perfectly clear?" I nodded quickly, relieved and frightened at the same time as his amused smirk returned to his face. That was _such_ a close call! I have _definitely_ got to be more careful!

"That's a good little kitten," he said to me mockingly. "Now then, since you were able to let me eat my meal in peace, without getting angry with me, I believe you deserve a little reward." I cocked my head to one side a little bit, confused at what he meant. Ken snapped his fingers then, and in came Elfmon, carrying a tray with him, on which was water and—give ya three guesses. …Yup! Sushi…

Elfmon came in and set the tray down on the cot in the cell. I was slightly disappointed by what it was, although, I can't really say I wasn't expecting something like this. It's just like typical Ken to toy with me like this 24/7. "Hey, it's either this or nothing at all." Ken grabbed me by the arm and made me face him, his voice calm and low, yet still dripping with malevolence. "I say a 'thank you, Master' is in order, Kitten. Remember, I could just let you starve to death." Ugh…I absolutely _hate_ that pet name he's been calling me by lately! But, nevertheless…

"Thank you, Master," I obediently followed his demand, my voice a submissive half-whisper, my head lowered in respect. I felt so degraded, reduced to complying with Ken's every wish and even thanking him for things! I couldn't believe my own meekness. A few days ago, I would've never given in to such a demeaning command. But, what now? Why was I giving in to him so easily? Why was I surrendering without even the slightest hint of a fight?

Ken patted me on the head, sniggered lowly under his breath. "What a good little kitten," he snickered at me mockingly and then turned to leave the cell. As soon as he was outside the cell and had locked the door, he said to me, "Now, eat up, Kitten. You're going to need your strength for the next time I decide to physically torture you." And, with that, he and Elfmon left the dungeon, closing out the last remaining light besides that provided by the moon and the stars in the night sky outside the cell.

I looked at the sushi in front of me. It was a kind I'd never eaten before. Great, give me something I don't know the taste of so I won't know whether or not you poisoned it! …Wait! Poisoned? What if that was the whole point? What if it was poisoned? What if the whole point was to make me sick—too weak to fight off his attacks or even resist him in the slightest way?

"…Well," I sighed to myself then, "That's just a chance I'm going to have to take, isn't it? I need to eat something." With that, I picked up a piece of the sushi and hesitantly put it in my mouth. It tasted awful! It took me forcing myself to before I was able to swallow it, trying hard not to make it come back up. Although, I was starting to feel queasy, no doubt a result of the rush of panic and uneasiness I was feeling, idea of the possibility of a poisoning still fresh on my mind.

_'He wouldn't…would he?'_

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: (Shivering) Whew! There's chapter 23. A little chilling, isn't it?

Digimon Emperor: No, not really. (Gets drenched with water)

(Looks at midnight breezy holding the water gun she used to spray the crazy, old lady with the last time)

midnight breezy: (Trying to hide the water gun behind her back) Hi!

(Tries to suppress laughter, but fails)

Digimon Emperor: (Throws little, flimsy brochure at Diva'sDream)

(Stops laughing suddenly and glares at the Digimon Emperor after the brochure lightly taps her in the head)

midnight breezy: Uh-oh! (Hides)

Digimon Emperor: 0.0

You wanna be startin' somethin'? …Well, fine then… (Eyes turn red and she turns into Demon Diva'sDream as she pulls out her trusty frying pan and starts chasing him around with it) Come on! (Demon voice) Bring it on, Sparky! (Laughs maniacally, her frying pan waving in the air as she chases him)

Digimon Emperor: (Running for his life) Mommy! Help me!

midnight breezy: -.- …Uhhhh…ok…Diva'sDream will put up Chapter 24 as soon as she can. Probably after she's done killing "Sparky". Until then, see ya! .

(As the Digimon Emperor and herself run across the computer screen suddenly while she's chasing him) Bye everybody!

Digimon Emperor: Somebody, help me. (The huge metallic _clang_ of a metal object slamming into someone's head can be heard all of a sudden)

midnight breezy: (With a painful, yet amused look) Ouch! That's gotta hurt! (Sees reader still there) Bye! (Waves happily as if nothing's happening as huge metallic _clangs_ continue to resound over and over again) .


	24. Your Friends Are DEAD, Slave!

The next week, I still felt strange. Trying to push the thought of poison out of my mind, I began to ask myself questions that'd been eating me up inside for the longest time. _'Why aren't they here yet? It's been over a week! The other digidestined should've come to save me by now. Could something have happened to them? What if Ken defeated them! What would I do _then_! Oh God, Matt, I hope you and the others are alright! Oh, please don't let them be hurt! I don't know what I'd do if they were ever to—'_

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted and I whirled around quickly as the door to the dungeon opened. The glimmer of hope that I used to have that it might've been one of my friends, come finally to save me, never came anymore. I knew it wasn't going to be them. It was always either Ken or Elfmon or both. Wormmon never came to see me anymore, unfortunately. It was too dangerous. Ken would always find out if he did, and then someone would end up getting hurt—mainly me!

I couldn't help but let out a sigh of disappointment—or perhaps it was misery; I'm just not sure of that stuff anymore—as Elfmon walked in, glaring at me, holding…Oh you've gotta be kidding me! What's he need a broom for? He's not gonna make me clean, is he? Shit! _'Oh great! What now?'_ I thought to myself as he walked into the cell, not once taking his eyes off of me. _'What does he think—that I'm gonna try to kill him or something if he doesn't watch my every move? Oh, wait, that's right. That's not far from the truth at all! I _would_ try to kill him if I had the chance!' _

He walked up to me, giving me his famous Elfmon Death Glare, stopping when I'd backed myself into the wall and he was only inches from me. "Here!" he simply said as he shoved the broom at me. "Orders from The Emperor. You have a job here now—to keep this base spotless. If you don't meet this demand, you'll be severely punished. Is that understood?"

Oh, he's gotta be joking! _Please_ tell me he's joking! Please don't tell me that Ken expects me to serve him now as a servant would! I'm not his slave, you know! I refuse to be! He can't force me to—"I said, _is that understood_!" Elfmon slapped me across the face to further get my attention.

I had my head down now, my hair falling in front of my face. "…No…" I said then in reply to his question, simply letting the broom slide out of my hands and drop to the floor. I can't believe I had the guts to do that, but Ken wasn't going to get complete control over me without a fight!

"What did you say?" His voice became calm—dangerously calm. His eyes darkened as I looked up at him. I could tell that this wasn't gonna be pretty. I was crossing the line at that moment, which was _way_ different from the submissive, frightened little girl he was used to seeing cowering in the corner, crying and begging for mercy. (Then again, this is the first time Elfmon's ever tried something like this with Ken not watching me my every move, and I'm not really afraid of Elfmon—I just put on that act because I didn't want Ken anywhere near me.)

What the hell I was thinking at the time, I had no idea. It was almost like it wasn't me speaking. It was almost as if it were my crest, the Crest of Willpower, taking over my actions before I could stop it. All I can remember thinking at that moment was that Ken was _not_ gonna gain that kind of control over me, although I _must've_ been insane to try and resist it!

'_I'm probably gonna end up with some pretty bad wounds after this…' _was all I could think as he glowered down at me. Damn, if looks could kill! Although, as depressing as it is for me to say it…death was actually looking pretty good at the moment…

…Wait a second! What the hell was I thinking? _'Stop it, Crystal! Just stop it! You're letting Ken win! You can't let that happen. You just _can't_!' _I scolded myself as I slowly began to back away from Elfmon. Although, I'm not quite sure why I did this since, as I said before, I wasn't scared of Elfmon. _'Oh crap! This isn't gonna be good! I know it!'_ That was the last thought I got in my head just before Elfmon grabbed me roughly by the arm. Oh no! This isn't good!

"You still won't listen to me, huh? Well, maybe you'll listen to The Emperor himself! C'mon!" And, with that, he proceeded to drag me out of the dungeon, pulling me out by my, by then, frail and weak wrist.

"Oh God, no! Please, no!" I started screaming as he led me up the stairs to the main hallway, which leaded to the Control Room…where Ken was. I knew what was coming. Ken was gonna beat the shit outta me again! He does every single time I show disobedience towards him. And this time would be no different. He seems to get some sick, twisted pleasure out of it—out of feeling like he's the one in charge. Ugh! His ego's getting to big for his glasses, if you ask me!

By then, we were right outside the Control Room. As Elfmon went to open the door, I suddenly called out, "Wait!" in hopes that he'd stop and I could by myself some time to think of something—or, better yet, to change his mind. Elfmon gave an exasperated sigh and then turned to me with an expression as though he were saying "Well?" I thought for a second before speaking calmly. "Please, Elfmon…please. Let's just go back to the dungeon and forget this whole thing ever happened. You can just go and do whatever you want and…and not even bother with me for right now…C'mon, what do ya say?"

What happened next surprised me! Elfmon looked as though he were actually _thinking_ about it! "Hmm…" he said. "Well…" My hopes soared at this!

'_Yes? Yes?'_

"No!"

'_Shit!' _(Me: I don't know about you guys, but I actually found that pretty funny! What? What! Why are you all looking at me like I'm crazy? Stop staring at me, damn it! Stop it! No, I'm not being paranoid! Stop it! That's it! I can't take it anymore! Ahhhh! Jumps out the window)

And, with that, Elfmon opened the door to the Control Room and dragged me in. Ken was typing away at his computer when we walked in, but that soon changed when he realized we were there. The small clicking for the keys stopped suddenly and he turned to look at us. Elfmon pushed me forward, causing me to fall to my knees in front of Ken, who was now standing, towering over me. The tears were already starting to well up inside of me and I tried to be brave, to not let them show. Surprisingly, it seemed to be working. That is, until the event that occurred next…

(Me: (Still free-falling from my little jump) Hmm…Should I stop it there or not?

All The Readers: No! Keep going or face my wrath!

Me: 0.o …Ok…)

"She refuses to obey you?" Ken started off by asking Elfmon calmly, already reaching into the folds of his cape. Oh, this wasn't good. He was already taking out the damn whip. Not really the reaction I was hoping for…

"Exactly," an obviously angered Elfmon replied.

"I see…" He kneeled down next to me then and gently lifted me into a seated position, lifting my chin up gently with the handle of his whip. I look into his eyes fearfully, dreading whatever he was gonna do next. "Oh Kitten, why don't you just give up this little game and submit to me? You're only delaying the inevitable by not doing so. I'm gonna get total control over you sooner or later, so why not make it easier on yourself and simply give in now? There's no point in fighting it…" Then, he lowered the whip from my chin and brushed my cheek with his other hand. I knew what he was trying to do—he was trying to break me again. But I wasn't about to just let it happen that time!

"No! I'm _not_ giving up!" I hissed at him, jerking my head away from his touch. "Alright, listen up! In case you haven't already noticed, Cape Boy, I _am_ called the Child of Willpower for a _reason_! I'm not the type to just surrender—Never have been, and never will be! I'm _not_ giving in to you without a damn good fight and you know it! I'm _never_ gonna give you control! You don't own me, and you _never_ will! I'm gonna keep resisting you until my friends come to save me, and there's _nothing_ that you and your new little flunky," I gestured towards Elfmon, "can to about it, you bastard!" And, with that, I slapped Ken hard across the face

To my surprise, Ken just laughed at my reaction. Wormmon, who by that time had slipped into the room unnoticed, trembled at the sound of that laughter. I was pissed off that he was laughing at me. I tensed up and waited for whatever happened next, my anger still growing to the point where I had to use a great deal of self-control so I didn't just punch him in the face right then and there. Ken stood up then, leering down at me mercilessly. "Poor, delusional little kitten. Your friends can't save you now…" he paused then, awaiting some sort of reaction on my part.

"And why the hell not!" as all I could think of to yell at him.

"Because, Kitten, I forgot this morning to tell you something very important that occurred yesterday afternoon. …Your friends can't save you now. How could they when they couldn't even save themselves?" An arrogant smirk of pride found its way onto his lips and he let out a cold laugh once again as I sat there, shocked at what he'd just said. What the hell did he mean by that?

"W-what?" I stammered, by breathing starting to quicken, my body starting to tremble, and my heart starting to pound in my frail chest, the tears that stung my eyes threatening to fall. He merely shook his head in mock disappointment.

"Oh Kitten, don't you understand? I've defeated them. I've won. They were your only chance at getting away, but now they're gone and you, my little kitten, are all mine. You see, I had them all executed yesterday and—"

"_No!_" I sprang up and tried to leave, to get away from this lie he was telling me, but it didn't work. I didn't even get to take one step before Ken grabbed me by the arm and pulled me close to him so that his face was mere inches away from mine.

"_Yes_, Kitten!"

"_No!_" I shouted back at him. "You're lying!" I struggled against him, trying to get out of his grasp. But, the more I struggled, the tighter his grip became, until I was forced to stop struggling and to sink back to my knees, crying from the sheer pain of his vice grip and of his words. I cried out in pain as he shook me a little to emphasize what he said next, the pain in my arm throbbing.

"_Yes, _Crystal! It's true, so just accept it. Accept that your little fight has been in vein! Accept that I have won and that you belong to me now! Accept the fact that your little friends are dead! Do you here me, brat? They're dead! Your friends are _dead_, slave! And, just incase you need anymore proof, I'd be glad to show you. Come!" Ken hauled me to my feet and dragged me out of the room by my arm. I had no idea where we were going, but, whatever it was, I was sure that it was gonna be horribly traumatic.

After about a minute or two of walking through the dark hallways of the base, Ken basically dragging me the entire way, we went through a doorway leading to some sort of outside arena or something, where Ken usually makes digimon fight each other, or does the fighting with someone or something himself. I was shocked to look around and find lots and lots of digimon, looking to be in horrible condition, inside the cages lining the walls of the arena.

And that's when Ken threw me to the ground and I looked to the center of the arena, gasping in horror at seeing the bloody figures sprawled on the ground in front of me. Oh no! Matt? Sora? Everyone? I took a step closer to get a better look so I could see whom these creatures were. And that's when did I realized who they were, crying and sobbing like mad, beginning to feel so nauseas that I thought I might pass out. "Oh my God! No!" I cried as I ran to my fellow digidestined friends, lying dead on the cold, hard ground. "_No!_"

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: (Landing as gracefully as a cat on my feet as I reached the ground) Whee! That was fun!

midnight breezy: Diva'sDream, what the hell! You can't have them killed. They're the main characters! How're you gonna get out of this without them?

Don't worry—I know exactly what I'm going to do… (Evil smile)

Digimon Emperor: (Debating whether to get involved or not) 0.o Uhhhh…

(Turns to the Digimon Emperor) And you… (Turns into Demon Diva'sDream) Don't you ever—_ever_—call me "slave" again! You got that, Cape Boy!

Digimon Emperor: 0.o Uh-huh…

(Turns back to normal) Good. Chapter 25 will be coming up soon. I promise! Bye—!

midnight breezy: Whoa! Whoa! Wait a second! Not yet! We still have some unfinished business to take care of.

Hmm? …Oh yeah! That! … (Evil smile)

midnight breezy and Diva'sDream at the same time: (Pull water guns out from behind their backs and smile evilly at the Digimon Emperor)

Digimon Emperor: 0.o Uh-oh! (Runs)

GET HIM!

Diva'sDream and midnight breezy at the same time: (Runs after the Digimon Emperor, who, by the end of the night, winds up soaked from head to toe with water)

Diva'sdream: See ya when chapter 25 comes! Bye! (Along with midnight breezy, runs like hell away from a pissed off Digimon Emperor, laughing)

Digimon Emperor: Get back here, ya little runts!


	25. Matt?

Crystal tried desperately to get to her fallen friends, only to be pulled back to where she was standing next to Ken by her hair. She cried out in pain and looked back, wincing with the tears stinging her eyes, to find Ken holding her by the hair, a malevolent smile playing on his face. "No, no, no, Slave. I don't remember telling you that you could go anywhere," he hissed to her with a cruel laugh, throwing her to the ground at his feet.

Looking back and forth from Ken to her friends lying there, Crystal broke down crying right then and there. "No… This can't be happening to me… They can't be dead… No…" She cried, her voice coming out as no more than a choked whisper. She covered her face with her hands and kneeled there in front of Ken, crying, awaiting whatever Ken decided to do to her next with extreme fright. There was no hope for her now—not now that her friends were all gone and there was no one left who could help her. Ken had won, or at least that's what Crystal was thinking to herself by then.

"Oh, but it _is_, Slave. It _is_ happening to you. They're all dead, and nothing you do can change that. Now, I suggest that you stop crying right now." Ken grabbed her by the hair again and brought his face only inches from hers as she winced in pain, grasping his fist with both of her hands. "It's not accomplishing anything and, quite frankly, it's getting on my last nerve." And, with that, he threw her to the ground again and walked over to where Matt lay sprawled in the dirt.

"'Pity, too," he laughed, kicking Matt's arm, which moved a little bit with the force of his kick but got no other response. "I found it rather amusing that you thought you had a chance against me. But now, without them, it seems that your chances for an escape have all but run out on you. There's no escape for you now, and you know it, don't you? You're mine forever and you know that there's nothing that can be done about it now. Without them, you have no chance." He laughed cruelly, watching her try to be strong and stop crying, although she failed miserably.

"Now, come with me, my new slave. I believe it's time for you to learn exactly how things are going to be run around her for the rest of your pathetic life. Come." He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her back inside to her cell, where he threw her in with such force that she hit the wall on the other side, letting out an anguished cry of pain as she hit it.

"Why?" Crystal managed to choke out between her sobs as she sat up onto her knees, her head down in bitter defeat. "Why did you have to kill them? If you're as powerful as you claim to be, then why did they pose so much of a threat to you that you saw it fit to end all of their lives?" She wanted to understand how anyone could do such a thing to such innocent people, but found it too hard for her to understand at the moment.

She lifted her head to find a cold pair of amethyst-colored eyes staring spitefully back at her. Ken stood observing her every move, her every reaction, him leaning against the bars of the cell coolly, smirking mercilessly at her and seeming to enjoy her pain greatly—the sick bastard. After a few seconds, he stood straight up and walked towards her ominously, like approaching storm clouds.

"Because, my dear kitten," he hissed mercilessly as he stood there, his shadow by then looming over her. "If I had let them live, then you would've kept resisting me, convinced that they would one day 'save' you. Plus, they would've kept coming back and fighting me until either they accomplished this fantasy or I killed them all. It was either going to be one or the other, and, really, I'd choose this way over that one. I've worked way too hard to get you back. Now that you're mine again, I'm not sure I want to let you go. And, since you won't join me willingly, the only way I can keep you here with me is for me to force you to stay here and for me to teach you your place in this world now—as my slave. Like it or not, that's all you are now, a worthless slave."

"If I'm so worthless, than why don't you just kill me too!" Crystal yelled, the tears streaming down her face.

"Now, where would the fun be in that?" Ken answered her coolly, his eyes showing not even the slightest hint of remorse. All that could be seen in those dark empty voids was coldness—coldness…and cruelty. All that Crystal could think about as she stared into those voids was that this boy couldn't be human anymore. There just couldn't be any hint of humanity left in him. All that was left was cruelty, darkness, and pure evil. Crystal realized this as she kept searching, but was unable to find even the slightest bit of emotion; the slightest hint of pity or sympathy in his gaze.

Giving up all hope, Crystal again lowered her gaze to the floor in defeat. "So, here's how it's going to be from now on. Listen well, because I'm only going to say this once! You are to do whatever I say when I say it, understand? You are to call me 'Master' from now on, just as you have been for the past week or so. And I will _not_ tolerate any more of your now well-known disobedience. Any more of that will get you punished severely. Am I making myself perfectly clear, Slave!"

"…Yes, Master…" Crystal said with a flat, lifeless tone, her seemingly emotionless gaze still to the floor in sadness and angst. Well, he'd done it. Ken had finally broken her and they both knew it. Ken smirked cruelly as this realization dawned on him. Satisfied with this apparent victory, Ken went on.

"Good! And I hope, for your sake, that you will heed this warning. You know perfectly well that I will _not_ hesitate in beating you 'till you're on the edge of death. And what did I say about crying?" he glared down at Crystal mercilessly now, the smirk gone from his face once again. Crystal forced herself to stop crying as she shrank back, away from him, as she stared up at Ken, frightened. She didn't want to get hurt again. She didn't think that she could handle it at the moment.

"Good girl," Ken simply responded to her submissiveness. And, that being said, he turned and, with a sweep of his cape, left her in the dungeon alone to grieve over the loss of her friends. As soon as she was sure he'd gone, Crystal broke down crying again sitting in the corner of the cell again, hugging her legs, her face buried in her knees and her long, light brown hair falling all around her.

After she'd been sobbing for about 10 minutes or so, she heard a door creak open suddenly. Fearing that it might be Ken, Crystal gasped in fright and wiped away her tears, trying to pretend as though she hadn't been crying. She watched the door cautiously as it opened, then let out a small sigh of relief as Wormmon came through it and closed the door behind him. "Are you all right?" he asked her, concern showing clearly in his voice and facial expression as he slipped through the bars of the cell and came to her.

"Yes," Crystal replied, not wanting her dear friend to worry about her, "I'm fine, Wormmon. Thank you." She tried to give him a reassuring smile, although it came out as exhausted, weak, and frightened. She knew he wasn't going to buy it, but she still felt she had to be strong for him so that he wouldn't worry about her.

Wormmon came over and gave Crystal a comforting hug. "Alright then," he said, and then turned to leave. Before he left though, he turned his back slightly to look at her as he said, "If you need anything, feel free to call me. And please don't worry too much. Things may look awful, but you're strong; you'll get through this…somehow. Bye," And, with that, he left. Crystal stared after him for a moment, and then sighed to herself sadly, lowing her gaze to the floor.

"_Oh, Wormmon, I know you're trying to help, but there's no hope anymore,"_ she thought to herself, a tear rolling down her cheek. _"There's no one left to save me. I can't overpower him myself, and he's too smart for me to be able to sneak out or trick him. There's just nothing I can do now except for giving up. I desperately don't wanna do that, but what other choice do I have? I guess, from now on, I have to do whatever Ken says. If I don't, I can't fight him off when he tries to beat me—I'm just too weak."_ Another sad sigh escaped from Crystal's throat. _"My life is going to be a living hell…"_

With that thought, Crystal looked out the window longingly, noticing that it had started to rain again. A distant clap of thunder rumbled in the air, followed by the faint flash of a lightning bolt. Crystal sadly leaned her head against the wall, trying desperately to shield herself from the pouring rain, and contemplating on whether continuing to live is the best idea now that she was just gonna be tormented for the rest of her life.

Death was starting to sound pretty good to her at the moment. It was probably a _good_ thing that Ken took away anything Crystal had that could be used as a weapon and wouldn't let her handle anything like knives and stuff like that. At this point, she'd probably use any one of these things against herself.

Crystal then found herself completely exhausted as she thought about this. She decided to take a nap, so she went and lied down on the cot. _"Maybe things will look a little better after I've gotten some rest. And, who knows, maybe I'll wake up and find that this whole thing has been nothing but one big nightmare." _she thought to herself in obvious denial. Within a few minutes, she'd fallen asleep, her face still tearstained.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

_About half an hour later, Crystal felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, and heard a soft voice calling her name. "Crystal," it whispered to her, "Please wake up." Crystal's eyes slowly opened. When she opened them, she found herself staring into a pair of familiar green eyes. Her eyes widened as she realized who it was and she sat bolt upright in the cot, her heart racing, her breaths increasing, and her hopes soaring. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was definitely the shock of her life. It wasn't possible, was it…? _

"_M-Matt…?"_

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A/N: Sorry, everyone, but that's all you're getting for now. Don't worry, though. I'll get Chapter 26 up as soon as I possibly can—

midnight breezy: (Gasps and starts jumping around, clapping her hands, and shouting excitedly) They're alive! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! (An hour later…still going…) I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I—Ouch! (Looks at brochure lying on the ground that just hit her and then looks at Diva'sDream) Hey! Diva!

What? I didn't do it! Kenny Boy over there did! (Points to Digimon Emperor)

Digimon Emperor: (Smiles evilly and sarcastically says) I have no idea what you're talking about. (Realizes what was just said) Hey! Don't call me "Kenny Boy"!

Oops! My bad. Sorry, Cape Boy.

Digimon Emperor: Grrrrr! (Reaches for Diva'sDream, but then sees midnight breezy coming after him and decides to start running for his life) Yikes!

midnight breezy: (Chases after Digimon Emperor) Come back here, ya little devil with sunglasses!

(Hands midnight breezy a phonebook as she goes by)

midnight breezy: Thanks, Diva! (Runs after Ken)

Well…(Winces as the sound of a phonebook colliding with someone's had can be heard in the background) See ya! (Looks at huge bump on Digimon Emperor's head as he walks back to her, followed closely by midnight breezy, who looks quite satisfied) Ooh! That's gotta hurt! (Notices that the reader is still there and turns back to the reader) Bye!


	26. So It Was You All Along

"_Matt…?"_

_I sat there staring at him for a moment, my mouth open in shock, barely able to comprehend what was happening. "Yes, Crystal," he whispered softly as he smiled warmly to me. "It's me. I'm here now. Everything's gonna be alright now. I'm getting you out of here. Everything's okay." _

_Tears flooded my eyes as I heard Matt's words. I could contain myself no longer. "Oh, Matt!" I cried as I wrapped my arms around him within an instant, hugging him tightly to me. I could hardly believe what was happening. Matt had somehow survived the attack. He'd come to rescue me. Before I knew it, I was sobbing into his chest, trembling with emotion. Everything was going to be just fine. _

_Or so I thought…_

"_Oh Kitten, wake up," Matt said calmly then unexpectedly. It confused me. What the hell was he talking about…and why did he just…call me…"Kitten"? "I said wake up, Crystal!" he continued a little more forcefully, and I noticed that his voice had changed slightly. Before I had time to comprehend what was happening, he shook me fiercely. _

_I looked up at him just in time to here him yell, "Slave, obey me!" Only…it wasn't Matt's voice that said this, nor was it his eyes I was staring into now. …It was Ken's. I gasped in surprise as I found him glaring down at me, clutching painfully onto my arms. He slapped me then very hard, causing me to reel to the side and cry out in pain…_

………………………………………………………………………………………………

I awoke with a gasp and a scream, my eyes flying open only to find Ken sneering down at me angrily, his hands clamped tightly onto my arms as I lay there. "K-Ken…" I stuttered, only to be thrown to the floor by him a second later. I cried out as I hit the ground hard, quickly sitting up onto my knees and looking up at Ken, the fear evident in my eyes and in my now trembling body.

"Shut up! I did _not_ give you permission to speak!" he yelled, causing me to jump and recoil back slightly. Before I knew what was happening, Ken had taken his whip out of his cape and was pushing my chin up with the handle of it. "And the next time I tell you to do something, Slave, I expect you to do it the first time I ask! Understood!" At first, I was too shocked by what was happening to reply, so I just sat there and stared up at him, trembling and trying to get my bearings.

I'm guessing he took my silence as insolence though, since the next thing I knew, he'd slapped me hard again, causing me to fall to the ground. I glanced up just in time to see him raise his whip. "No, please!" I practically screamed at seeing this, though he did not seem to listen. I knew he'd heard me since, to my great surprise, a slight pause on his part followed my cry. He hesitated again for a second, instantly bringing back memories from a few months ago when he'd done the exact same thing.

Although, this pause didn't last as long as the last time. A second later, he brought down his whip on my back. Five times, he struck me with that damned whip of his. Five times, the whip snapped deafeningly loud as it made contact with my back. And five times, I cried out in anguish. "Answer me slave!" Ken yelled in anger after he'd stopped.

I lay there on the floor for a few seconds before answering, my head spinning from the pain. I somehow managed a weak "Y-yes, Master". It disgusted me calling him master, took a lot of my pride and my dignity from me, but I had no choice. If I did anything else to anger him, he'd beat me way worse than the five lashes I'd just received. I just couldn't risk it. Not yet.

"Good girl," I heard Ken laugh, and I could feel his eyes burning into me, though I couldn't bring myself to look at him. I was too humiliated, and I tried my hardest not to let him see that. I tried desperately to not let him think that he was currently winning…which…I hate to say…he was at that time.

"You know Kitten, I do hope, for your sake, that you will learn to obey me without a fight someday…" he continued then. "Otherwise, I may end up beating you into a coma one of these days…" That sounded like a threat. It may have sounded like a statement, but the sound of the venom dripping from his voice, the way he stood looming over me as he said it; all of that told me that he was threatening my life to get me to submit to him. I just sat there on the ground, staring at the floor, and took it silently too, not seeing much of an option 'B' anywhere. Running my mouth off was too much of a risk at the moment.

After a moment of unbearable silence, Ken continued, beginning to circle around me with his hands behind his back like the revolting vulture he is. "Now then, I simply came down here to test out my control over my new slave so far. So, I'd like you to make me dinner tonight. Sound easy enough for you?"

"What? Are you trying to tell me that you trust me enough to not try and poison you?" I replied to him sarcastically as I stood up, choosing to rebel all of a sudden. Okay, now he was taking it a bit too far. I was _not_ gonna cook for him! I never actually thought about what would happen when he actually started bossing me around, but I'd just decided then. I wasn't gonna listen to him without a fight first.

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and stared directly into his eyes. I knew I was in big trouble for this, but I didn't care then. "Or maybe you're just too damn lazy to get up off your fat ass and make it yourself!" A look of shock appeared on Ken's face momentarily as I said all of this. He wasn't expecting me to fight back this time. That only made me smile slyly as I stood before him, awaiting his reply.

His eyes narrowed menacingly at me, and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground at Ken's feet. I touched my fingers gently to my bottom lip, only to find that I was bleeding. He'd backhanded me so hard across the face that he'd slip my lip. I glared up at Ken, who was now looming over me again. "You're going to wish you hadn't said that, if not simply wish you had never been born instead," he said to me in an eerily calm voice considering the situation.

Then, he quickly raised his whip again. I lowered my head before it struck, staring at the ground below me. I wasn't going to fight him over it, for I knew that there was no way around the beating now. And I sure as hell wasn't going to give him the pleasure of hearing me beg and cry out and plead for mercy this time, or of seeing me cry. The next thing I knew, my back exploded with the excruciating pain of the lashings. I tried to remain silent and still throughout it, and to maintain my composure. But Ken beat me so badly that, within a few minutes, I'd passed out…

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I awoke about an hour or so later, lying on the cot on my stomach, my back in terrible agony. I opened my eyes slowly, taking a look around but not moving an inch. My head was spinning and I felt dizzy. I figured it was from blood loss. My eyes traveled down to the floor. Yep, there was a pool of blood on it, and I could feel the blood on my bad seeping through my shirt.

I shifted in my position slightly, groaning softly in pain as I did so. Then, I lay there for a few more seconds, trying to pull myself together and build up strength enough to sit up. Before I got a chance to move any, however, I heard the familiar sounds of the cell door creaking open. I quickly shut my eyes and lied still, trying to make it look at though I were still unconscious. Then, I listened, silent and still as possible, to the footsteps coming closer and closer to me.

The next thing I knew, I felt a gentle hand on my back, which stung even so. Then, I noticed a dim, glowing light around me. I could still see the light slightly through my eyelids, though my eyes were closed. A few seconds went by, and I could hear the sound of faint humming. As those seconds went by, I began to feel the pain in my back slowly receding. After about thirty seconds, the pain was gone.

The hand on my back slowly lifted. I was ready for it, though. I quickly opened my eyes, turned over on my back and looked at who was standing over me. I gasped in shock as I was met by a familiar pair of eyes. My eyes widened as he stared back at me, obviously as surprised to see me awake as I was to see him period, and my eyes absentmindedly did the same thing. It took a few seconds for this to register, but when it did, I said in a disbelieving whisper, "So it was you all along…"

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A/N: Aw c'mon! You can't possibly sit there and tell me you weren't expecting me to leave it there. It was just too good of a cliffhanger. I had to and everyone knows it! Sorry I haven't updated in _so_ long. I've been on vacation for the last month and a half. But, I'm back now and ready to keep writing (so please don't yell at me anymore Piedmon and LadyLuck T.T). I'll get Chapter 27 up as soon as I possibly can, I promise this time! I don't have anything to distract me now!

Digimon Emperor: (Sarcastically) Suuuuuuure…

(Gives Digimon Emperor nasty look) Listen, do you wanna shut up or do you wanna have to run from midnight breezy and that damn phonebook again?

Digimon Emperor: 0.o (Shuts up instantly)

midnight breezy: (Evil laugh as she clutches phonebook) Hehehe…

Digimon Emperor: (Gulps) 0.o …

(Looks at midnight breezy) Sorry, midnight breezy. Not now.

midnight breezy: (Lowers phonebook, disappointed) Aw man!

Sorry. Maybe later sometime. Ok?

midnight breezy: (Smiles) Ok!

Digimon Emperor: 0.o Diva'sDream!

Hey, sorry Kenny Boy, but that's the way the cookie crumbles I guess. (Shrugs)

Digimon Emperor: Hey! Don't call me Kenny… (Trails off at see Diva'sDream take the phonebook from midnight breezy and hold it up threateningly) 0.o

That's what I thought. (Sees reader) Buh-bye! (Waves)


	27. That's A Good Girl

"So it was you all along…"

His eyes glared into mine as I sat bolt upright on the cot, his gaze like ice. "Yes," he replied, his tone unfeeling, unwavering, almost seeming dead.

I was confused. "But why? I don't understand."

"Don't think for a second that I do any of this for you, girl!" he growled angrily. "I'm simply following the Emperor's orders." In his voice, I found no sympathy, no cheer, no emotion whatsoever…save for anger and annoyance at the moment. I searched his eyes for any traces of emotion. I found nothing. They were blank.

But why then, was Ken ordering him to do this? Why was he commanding that I be healed and that my suffering not be prolonged for any lengthy period of time? To help me? Could that possibly be why he's ordering it? To help me and make sure I heal and that I don't become too weak and die from my injuries? No, it's just not in any way, shape, or form possible! …Is it…?

"But Elfmon—!" I began to protest, but a sharp slap across the face silenced me. I reeled back a little bit, and then steadied myself. I stared at him in surprise as I sat there and raised a hand to my cheek gently, unable to fully comprehend what'd happened really, the slap silencing me for the time being. "I did _not _give you permission to speak, so just shut up for a while and maybe you'll understand after I tell you," Elfmon growled at me. I shuddered slightly at his tone. He smiled menacingly at this, obviously enjoying the reaction he was getting from me, and continued, "He demanded that I do this, runt, so that you wouldn't die from the beatings he's been giving. All of which you completely deserved in my opinion, I might add."

I glowered at him as he said this. He replied to it with a death glare back at me and I backed down to him. Satisfied, Elfmon went on. "He didn't want you getting too weak, so he had me heal you and make you strong again so that you'd live." My eyes widened. Could my suspicions be true? Could he be doing this to help me? "Now don't go getting the wrong idea, you little brat!" Elfmon suddenly shouted, bringing all my hopes crashing to the ground. "He's not doing any of this for your well-being, if that's what you're thinking…and I know you are!" Elfmon narrowed his eyes at me. I shrank back even more.

"He's doing it for the soul purpose of being able to go on torturing you," Elfmon laughed cruelly, and I hung my head. "He seems to quite enjoy it, to be perfectly honest." I knew it was too good to be true! I just knew it! He'd never help me…not intentionally! "And, to tell you the truth," Elfmon's voice cut into my thoughts, "I quite enjoy _watching_ him do so!" I became angry and narrowed my eyes at him, quickly getting to my feet and positioning myself directly in front of him. Elfmon was at least four inches taller than me, but I stood my ground, looking him straight in the eyes. He saw this and, taking it as defiant rebellion, I guess, slapped me across the face once again. I stumbled backwards and fell back onto the cot with a short gasp of surprise, catching myself just before I hit the wall and potential injured myself further.

Elfmon laughed again and then stared at me menacingly. "Don't you ever," he spat at me, and then quickly grabbed my throat before I could stop him, causing me to grab his wrists tightly and gasp for air since he was squeezing so hard, "_ever_ do that _again_, you little brat, or I'll beat the shit outta you for your disobedience! Is that perfectly understood!" He pushed me back really hard, causing me to slam my head on the wall. I cried out in pain and leaned to the side on the bed, clutching my head, squeezing my eyes shut to try and prevent myself from beginning to cry. I stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to overcome my disorientation from my head colliding with the wall, my head pounding as a killer headache began to come on.

Elfmon must've taken my silence as more defiance, for the next thing I knew, he was choking me again after he'd grabbed me by the throat again and slammed me back against the wall, instantly pinning me in place. "Hello, Earth to the Little Brat! I said _'Is that perfectly understood,'_ and either you answer me when I'm talking to you _now_ or you receive a good whipping!"

He looked at me angrily, dead in the eyes, and I knew he was entirely serious. I became very afraid. The tears sprang into my eyes all at once before I could stop them. I began to cry, though I tried hard to stop myself and to calm down so I could reply. It didn't work quickly enough. Before I knew what was happening, he'd let go of my throat, grabbed one of my wrists tightly, pulled me to my feet, and punched me hard in the stomach and then resumed choking me again after letting me fall back onto my cot, this time harder. "Answer me, damn it!"

I cried out it pain and then tried to lean over when he hit me, which didn't work with his hand clasped tightly around my throat. I wrapped one arm around my stomach, and one hang gripping his wrist, gasping for air and wincing in total agony. I took a second to gather my breath, finding it extremely hard to breathe at the moment.

"Yes, Sir!" I panted hurriedly before he could make another move, gasping and out of breath from having the wind knocked outta me as well as from being strangled, the tears rolling down my cheeks, "Yes, I understand!" It came out choked and hoarse, but at least I got it out this time! I looked up at him, the tears falling, hoping he'd be satisfied and finally let me go. I was starting to feel light-headed.

Elfmon glared at me for a second, his eyes narrowed. "That's a good girl," he said finally, letting go of my throat with a little shove, a sadistic, yet satisfied smile playing on his lips. "Now then…" He grabbed my wrist roughly and threw me violently to the ground at his feet before I could move an inch. I gasped as I landed hard on the ground on my hands and knees, not even daring to look up at him. I kept my gaze to the floor.

I concentrated my gaze on nothing but his shadow, which didn't move for about a second, then all of a sudden came rushing towards my own. I knew something was coming, so I shut my eyes tight just seconds before his heel connected with my back, pinning me to the floor. I cried out again as my rib cage slammed against the floor.

Elfmon ground his heel into my back growling, "Since this was your first offense of this kind, you will be spared a harsh punishment. Let the wounds you've already sustained be enough of a reminder to you. But it better _not happen again!_ If it does, next time, you _will_ be beaten severely! Understand!" He dug his heel into my back farther for emphasis, at which I cried out.

The tears fell from my eyes even more and my voice was a soft, choked, wavering whisper, but I managed a reply. "Yes, Sir," I whispered softly, crying. I laid there, motionless save for my trembling and the slight scratching of my fingers on the floor as I tried to find something to grab onto to for comfort, awaiting whatever Elfmon planned to do next in complete terror. He said he'd spare me, but I knew very well that he could change his mind at any minute, and so I didn't let my guard down quite yet.

"Good little kitten," I heard Elfmon laugh cruelly from above me, calling me that despicable pet name that Ken had made up for me. He lifted his foot from my back and flipped me over onto my back with it, at which I gasped in surprise. "Now then," he continued after smiling maliciously down at me for a few seconds and making me cringe at the sight of him, "get up!" I complied quickly and wordlessly, terrified at the thought of receiving any further punishment then I'd already been given.

"And stop with that crying this instant!" he yelled suddenly at noticing my tears and my sobs, grabbing my chin roughly and forcing me to look at him again, causing me to jump. "You know perfectly well that I _do not_ and _will not_ tolerate it in my presence at any time." He let go, pushing my face to the side violently, not quite causing me to fall again, but only to stumble backwards a step.

Again, I did as I was commanded to the best of my ability, keeping my head down and my gaze to the floor, my hair falling into my face and my arms hanging limply by my sides. "Good!" he approved after seeing me obey him, then turning to leave. "See to it that you obey me like this without a struggle next time," he ordered me as he walked out the door, his heavy footsteps resounding off the walls.

He stopped in the doorway to the cell then at noticing Ken watching us from the entrance to the dungeon. He nodded a quick bow and stood there, waiting for any orders. Ken looked at both of us and chuckled cruelly, then walked in. "I take it you have everything under control with my slave, Elfmon," he said. "Good."

He leaned against the doorpost of the dungeon entrance, folding his arms in front of his chest and smiling evilly. "And…I trust she's obeying you without resistance then?" He said that with complete mocking in his voice. He knew the answer… He just wanted to make me nervous. It worked… Uh-oh, busted!

Elfmon turned to look at me and smiled maliciously. I backed up slightly, knowing exactly what he was about to do. He turned back to Ken and said, "Well, yes and no," she said. "You see, she _does_ obey me…after I 'persuade' her to, that is."

Ken looked at me and started walking into the cell. A chill instantly went up and down my spine as I gazed into those cold, amethyst eyes of his. I knew he was about to do something to me. I backed up more and then pressed myself against the wall, looking pleadingly back at him. All I got in return was a cold, hard glare as he continued to advance on my, stopping when he was mere inches from me.

"Really then?" he said, and then smiled evilly. "Then maybe we should give her a little 'reminder' of who's in charge here… Make her suffer a little more…" He spoke as though I weren't even in the room! Ken paused for a minute, contemplating on what do next. "I say," he said after a minute of silence, "we should have her go the next three days without any food or water, and no contact from us. We'll put her in isolation. Her hunger and thirst should open her eyes and make her realize who's really in control, and being alone for so long may get her to realize that we're not fazed by her rebellion and that it doesn't accomplish anything. Maybe she'll finally understand how the whole master/slave deal goes, since it seems she currently doesn't get it." Another pause followed this, then he said, "Yeah, let's go with that."

I looked at him beseechingly and my eyes began to fill with tears. I shook my head slightly, wanting so bad to beg for him not to do this. I opened my mouth to protest—"Ah ah ah, Kitten! I didn't give you permission to speak. It'd be wise not to do so." I raised my hand to my stinging cheek, looking up at him in surprise from my stop now lying on the ground at his feet.

He'd backhanded me and I'd fallen. I hung my head as he lectured me, actually resorting to wagging his finger a little in my direction. I felt so degraded. He was treating me like a child…or worse…like a puppy going through obedience training. "Now then, Kitten," he jeered. "What do we say when we displease our master in such a way?" Oh yes, he was definitely treating me like a child or a dog.

But, afraid of the consequences if I didn't, I cooperated with him. "I'm sorry, Master. It won't happen again." I kept my eyes to the ground, too humiliated to look up at him, my pride _way_ too bruised at the moment. I thought that was exactly what he wanted, but I guess I was wrong. The next thing I knew, he'd kicked me in the stomach. I curled up into a ball from the pain and whimpered softly, crying.

"Don't promise anything unless you're a hundred percent sure you can live up to it, Kitten," he lectured me again, referring to how I apparently promised to behave from now on, since he knew I didn't truly mean it.

I sighed. "Yes, Master. I'm sorry; I beg your forgiveness." This was _so _degrading!

"Good girl," Ken laughed cruelly, then turned and walked out of the cell, slamming it closed and locking it behind him. He glanced at Elfmon, who was standing by the dungeon entrance and watching us, obviously finding this whole thing very amusing.

Ken turned back to me. "See you in three days, Kitten." And with that, he and Elfmon left, leaving me alone at last. I weakly got up, grabbing my stomach in pain and wincing with a small groan, and limped over to my bed, lying down exhaustedly. Then, thinking about how long and hard these three days were gonna be, I finally broke down and began to cry, my sobs reverberating off of the cold, stone walls like they would in a cave…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: (Yells from somewhere out of sight as the sounds of someone's ass getting kicked can be heard) Well, there's chapter 27! (A scream is heard and Diva'sDream whispers angrily…) Shut up and take it like a man, Ken! Ahem…Sorry it took me _so_ long to finish it… (The sound of a frying pan smashing into Ken's head is heard) I've been out of town _again_! (The sound of Ken whimpering is heard and another angry whisper from Diva'sDream…) I said shut up! Anyways…I _promise_ I'll get 28 up as soon as I possibly can! (The sound of Ken crying can be heard followed by Diva'sDream yelling…) _Shut it!_ (Continues to beat up Ken)

midnight breezy: 0.o …Wow… Um… It looks like Diva'sDream is a little busy right now, so I'll say it for her. Please R&R! Bye everyone!

Ken: (Comes running across the room, chased by Diva'sDream) Ahhhh! Help me! I'm sorry, Diva! I didn't mean it! I promise I'll never do it again, just please don't kill me!

(Chasing after Ken with a frying pan) Make me go for three friggin' days without food or water, will you! I'll show you! (Speeds up)

Ken: (Speeds up as well and goes out of sight) Yikes!

(Also goes out of sight) Come back here, Cape Boy! (Frying pan sound connecting with Ken's head and then a long silence as Diva'sDream comes back into sight alone, smiling mischievously and dusting off her hands, the frying pan in her backpack) There!

midnight breezy: 0.o …

What? (Sees readers) Bye everyone! (Waves)


	28. I always Loved You, Crystal

"_I'm so tired. It's only been two days since I've eaten or drank anything…but…I'm already prepared to just give up on everything and die… I'm so hungry…and thirsty…I don't know…if I can make it for one more day. …But…I have to! I just have to! I can't let Ken win! If I let him win…then…it means that all hope really is lost… I mean, I just want so badly to give up… I'm so tired of fighting him… But what if I do? What if I just let Ken win? I don't know… Sometimes I just feel like I—"_

The sound of the door creaking open reached my ears, interrupting my thoughts automatically. I knew instantly by the heavy footsteps that soon followed that it was Ken. I closed my eyes, praying to God that he'd think I was asleep and wouldn't hurt me again. Within seconds, I felt a gentle touch on my head. Ken was kneeling beside me and playing with my hair, moving it out of my face. Thankfully, he bought that I was asleep.

What I heard next left me shocked, I have to say. I could feel his hot breath next to my ear as he leaned in close. "I always loved you, Crystal," he whispered in my ear. Then, he kissed my cheek softly. He laid his forehead gently on the side of my head and wrapped his arms around me for a second to hug me. Then, he released his soft grip on me and I heard his footsteps move away from me as he got up and went to the cell door.

I heard it creak, but then it paused suddenly, as if he had his hand on it but had stopped and turned back towards me. "And…it kills me to know that I can't have you." And, with that, I heard the cell door close gently and lock, and then I heard Ken's footsteps, softly clacking on the floor as he left.

I waited a moment before moving, making sure Ken had left. After I was positive that he'd gone, I sprang up into a sitting position, my facial expression showing complete astonishment. I couldn't stay that way for long, however. The next thing I knew, my head was reeling and I had to lie back down quickly. I was just too weak to do things like that at the moment. Too much effort made me want to pass out.

After I'd gotten my head to stop spinning, I lay there on the cot and thought about it, even though the mere thought of it made me feel just about as dizzy as moving too much. I didn't understand… I had a lot of trouble absorbing what had just happened and what he'd just said… And even after the words sank in, I had great difficulty in really understanding them and then, finally, actually believing them. This was partly because I just couldn't see it actually being true, and partly because I desperately didn't want it to be. _"Did…did he just say that he…that he loved me…?"_

No! That's what I kept telling myself. No, this couldn't have been happening. This couldn't have been true. It just couldn't! Ken…loved me? Then…then why would he hurt me like this…and try to kill me? Why would he be so adamant in acting like he despised me and wanted me dead if his true feelings towards me were of love?

And then it dawned on me… Matt. Matt was the reason that Ken wouldn't let his true feelings be shown. Ken knows I love Matt…not him. And so…to keep from getting hurt…he's pushing me away and making me hate him. He's afraid of me becoming friends with him; that's it…I'm sure of it. He's scared of the pain it would bring to know that he's so close to me…and yet he can't really have me. He's taking comfort in the fact that, now, since I hate him so much, he'll never have to bond with me as a friend and then have me break his heart by…by choosing Matt over him.

The thought of maybe giving Ken a chance crossed my mind, but I quickly squashed it, knowing that it wasn't what I truly wanted. I'd feel guilty…giving Ken a chance like that… Building up his hopes in that way. I knew that Matt was the one I wanted to be with, and that if I ever _did_ give Ken a chance, it would be out of pity. I just…couldn't do that to him…not matter how much I may have hated him. I just…couldn't hurt him like that… Not anymore than I already had by making it so that he couldn't have me.

"_Look at me… I'm sympathizing with a monster…" _But even as the words formed in my head, something felt wrong about them…untrue. _"But…maybe…maybe he's not as much of a monster as he seems… I could've sworn I'd seen some light in him before…somewhere… Maybe there _is_ some good left in him…somewhere…"_ I thought about it for a long while, finally falling asleep that night with that thought in my head.

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

"Slave!"

I opened my eyes slowly, even weaker than I was the day before. Bright sunlight shown down on me through the window, stinging my eyes. My vision was blurry at first, partly because of the sleep in my eyes and partly because of the bright beams of light obscuring it. I saw a figure looking down at me, but I didn't need perfect focus to realize whom it was. "Well, good morning, Kitten," Ken said to me coldly, leering down at me as I rubbed my eyes, which slowly came into focus. "I trust you've learned your lesson?"

"Yes, Master," I said in a monotone voice as I sat up on the cot, barely able to manage even that much without getting too dizzy. I kept my head sort of low, half from wooziness and half from sheer embarrassment. He was treating me like a child again. It was humiliating! He treated me again as if I didn't know any better and he was teaching me "my place". And what's worse was that I was actually _allowing_ it without a fight! And I hated him for it, even more than I already did. The way he treated me infuriated me, replacing all the other feelings I had for him with anger and hate.

And then, I noticed the presence of another in the room. I turned my head and looked past Ken. That's when I saw her for the first time—the girl, who couldn't have been too much older than me, whom would be the cause of my destruction. She was carrying a tray of food and water, which she set down on the cot next to me. Finally, food and water! I didn't really give a shit at the moment that it was sushi. All I knew was that I was finally getting something to eat.

"Kitten, there's someone I want you to meet," Ken said, gesturing to the girl, who came up next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "This is Candace Smythe, or 'Candy' for short." And then, he smirked coldly at me, a look that automatically sent a chill down my spine. Then, in as calm and casual a voice as ever, he told me, "She's your replacement, little one."

"Replacement…?" What did he mean by "replacement"?

"Yes," he said. "See, it's simple. You had me for a little while, you denied me, and now you've lost me. I've found someone else…someone better than you! Crystal, meet your new mistress." Candy smiled menacingly at me, and I instantly knew that she was just as bad as Ken. The sound of Ken's voice brought my attention back to him. "To you, she's 'Mistress', not Candace, not Candy, 'Mistress'. You are to show her the same respect that you show to me. Is that understood?" I nodded my head. "Good girl."

"Don't worry, Kitten. We'll have fun." Candy said to me, taunting me as she leaned forward and placed her fingers under my chin like I was a child. She smiled at me just the slightest bit wider and suddenly pushed my face lightly to one side. Then, she stood straight again. Just as I'd thought…she _is_ just like Ken. I shuddered involuntarily at the thought of another Ken. Now _that_ was a scary thought!

Seeing me tremble made Ken chuckle cruelly again. She smirked down at me mercilessly. "I knew you two would get along fine," he said to me in a taunting manner. He chuckled again and then held out his hand to the side. Candy took it daintily in hers and then they walked out of the cell. The cell door slammed shut and locked. "Eat up, Kitten," I heard Ken say to me before they left. "We wouldn't want you dying on us now before Candy here ever got a chance to play with you." Then, they're spiteful laughter rang in my ears as they left.

After they'd left, I looked down at my food. It wasn't the best thing in the world, but at least it was food. I ignored the awful taste and ate it all, savoring the relief I got from finally being fed. Although, in the back of my mind, I was constantly thinking of what might've been to come. That girl, Candy… She was definitely bad news. I knew it. What I didn't know, however, was just how bad that news was going to be.

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A/N: Ok, I think I'll leave it there for now. We're nearing the big finish! There are only about two more chapters to go. (Thunderous applause and people shouting.) Yes, yes, I know. I can't wait either! I just hope you all don't end up hating more for the totally sad, tragic ending I've thought up along with a lot of help from my friend, Lady of Life and Death, a.k.a LLD (applause), then you no doubt already do for taking so long (Looks at Piedmon and LadyLuck, who both turn away and whistle "innocently"). …Then again, I hope it doesn't end up absolutely sucking either! I really hope you like it!

midnight breezy: Oh, I'm sure they'll love it, Diva'sDream.

LadyLuck: Hey! Wait a second! How'd we get here, Piedmon?

Piedmon: (Shrugs) Dunno…but I say everyone will love your ending, Diva'sDream.

LadyLuck: Yeah, me too. Just don't take to long on it!

(Puts hands up defensively) Ok, ok!

midnight breezy: Man, and we thought Ken had a bad attitude!

LadyLuck: Hey, where _is_ Ken, anyway?

Everyone: (Shrugs and then goes looking for Ken)

Ken: (Comes out of nowhere and tries to attack Diva'sDream with another almighty brochure of doom) Grrrrr!

(Smacks him in the head with a dictionary as he gets too close) Smart move, Cape Boy.

Ken: (Falls unconscious)

Everyone besides Ken and Diva'sDream: 0.o …

What? (Sees readers staring) What! Oh, just get out of here! I'll have the next chapter up soon! Now go on and leave the voices and me in my head to finish our masterpiece! Go on, shoe! (Shoos readers away)

Everyone besides Ken and Diva'sDream: (Gets up to leave)

Not you guys! (Glares at everyone else)

Everyone else: (Immediately sits back down)

Thank you!

LLD: (Gasps and comes running in) Oh no! What'd you do to my poor Ken? (Hugs Ken and pets him)

Everyone: 0.o …

LLD: (Sees reader) …Um…Oh, hi! I'm Diva's friend—the one who's been helping her with the story. Credit for the ending to this story goes to me!

(Clears throat)

LLD: …And partly to Diva. (Eye roll)

Thank you! (Sticks tongue out at you)

Ken: (Wakes up and sees LLD) Hmm… (Looks at Diva'sDream and smirks)

Wow…I'm surprised LLD's helping you after what you did to Bakura…

LLD: (Asks as Kens behind her waving his arms like crazy) What about Bakura…?

Ken: (Sweatdrops) Oh, nothing! We really don't need to go into that right now!

Oh, yes we do! (To LLD) Apparently, Ken went after Bakura yesterday with a sledgehammer. That's why Bakura's been home all day with a killer headache.

LLD: (Shoots death glare at Ken) You…_WHAT!_

Ken: (Starts cowering) …Mommy… (Starts running as LLD comes after him) Ahhhh!

LLD: (Running after Ken) Come back her, Cape Boy! (Makes Ken unconscious again)

(As everyone else watches on in horror) Ooh…! That's gotta hurt! …Well…see ya!


	29. Closing My Eyes For One Last time

"_Don't worry, Kitten. We'll have fun." _

That's what she told me. Hmm! Fun my ass! She's worse than Ken, as if that were even possible! There's just something about her eyes. I dunno… It's as if they hold within them…pure evil. They're not like Ken's. In Ken's eyes, you can easily see that small hint of something in them—compassion and humanity, which he tries to hide, but I know it's there. But…in Candy's eyes…there's only pure hatred…evil…darkness…

Now, I told you that she's worse than Ken. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. "Not possible", right? Wrong… So very wrong. …I've got you curious now, don't I? You wanna see how this story ends… Well, okay then. You may not like the ending, but I'll tell you if you really wanna know…

It'd been a few hours since I'd first met Candy. I'd finally gotten something to eat and drink. I was starting to feel better. I was still very weak, however. I knew that was gonna last for a while. I lay on my bed, resting, thinking about what I was to do. I couldn't very well keep this up forever, now could I? Thoughts like that were going through my head constantly as I lay there. But those thoughts were suddenly interrupted as I heard the all-too-familiar sound of the cell door creaking open.

I heard unfamiliar footsteps coming towards me then. I had my eyes closed, praying she'd think I was asleep. Or better yet…dead. No such luck. The next thing I knew, I gasped and my eyes widened considerably as I was being grabbed by the hair and thrown to the ground. "Good. You're awake," she laughed cruelly at me just as I looked up at her. All I found was cold, unfeeling eyes, deep brown but seeming to flicker red, glaring back at me as Candy towered over me.

I became angry, not liking to be threatened by this woman I barely even knew. "What do you want, lady?" I asked her through gritted teeth, standing up tall directly in front of her. Before I knew what'd happened, a white-hot pain shot across my face and I fell to the ground. The demon had backhanded me across the face.

"I simply wanted to come and congratulate you on your little screw-up. I mean, you completely turned Ken off to you. He'd choose me now over you any day. And, to tell you the truth, I wouldn't blame him, quite frankly. I mean, look at you," she laughed cruelly at me, and my anger began to rise as I knelt in front of her, glaring up at her. "You're filthy, repulsive, weak, useless, and completely worthless. The Emperor would never accept you as anything more than a slave! Now me, on the other hand—_I'm_ empress material, especially compared to such a common piece of palace dirt as you!"

That completely pissed me off. I finally snapped, after so long. I was tired of it and I wasn't gonna take anymore of this bullshit! I was sick of being beaten and ridiculed by Ken. I wasn't about to let this woman start up with it and try to get to me through Ken with all this "he-left-you-for-me" shit.

I stood up straight and, right in her face, shouted, "Repulsive? Hello! Why Ken wants anything to do with you is beyond me! After all, I'm not the one going around looking like I just got into a fight with a clown car and lost!" referring to the heavy make-up she wore and her own odd looks. And she thinks _I'm_ the ugly one in the room! As if!

Well, that definitely made her angry. "_Shut up!_" she practically screamed, shoving me back into a nearby wall. I wasn't about to just stand and take that, though. I'd had _enough_ of this woman! And so, I came at her. I growled angrily, rushing over and grabbing Candy by the arm, and threw her against the wall. I was seething with anger and didn't care about the consequences of what I'd just done. I just didn't give a shit! Well…until…

Maybe that wasn't the smartest thing in the world for me to have done… I saw the fire in her eyes as Candy got over the shock of it and glared up at me, her eyes glowing a deep crimson red. She stood up, growling angrily, and it was then that I really realized just how much bigger and stronger she was compared to me. I'm 5"5'. She's at least two inches taller than me. The next thing I knew, she began stalking towards me. "Bitch," she simply called me through clenched teeth before pulling out a cat-o-nine tails, seemingly out of thin air. My eyes widened and I instantly became afraid. I tried to back away from her, but I just wasn't fast enough. Before I could do anything, she'd wrapped it around my body and struck me on the back with it. I screamed and fell, writhing in agony, which all, unfortunately, put me in a very vulnerable position at Candy's feet.

Oh God, it hurt! It was _way_ worse than Ken's whip—and _that's _bad! I winced in pain, looking fearfully at the woman towering above me. "How dare you!" she shouted angrily. "Do you have _any_ idea who I am, slave—_any_ idea at all who you're dealing with!" She struck me four times more with the cat-o-nine tails before continuing with her rant. "I, you little brat, am Candymon: digimon and daughter of Arukenimon and Mummymon!" (Me: Ew!) I gasped and stared up at her at this, crying, sweating, and panting for breath by then. I'd heard of them. They were supposedly some horrible digimon wreaking even more havoc in the Digital World right now. (A/N: Just go with me here, people, for story purposes!)

I trembled under her gaze as she continued heatedly. "I've been sent here to make sure that Ken stays like us, like he should be, and that _you_, with your sickeningly 'righteous' and 'good' ways, don't try to turn him away from his glorious destiny—ruling the Digital World! And I'll do whatever it takes to do it! Besides, you've crossed a line with me! And now…I want you dead!" And then with that, before I could react in any way, the cat-o-nine tails came rushing at me again. …And again…and again…and again…

She just wouldn't stop. No matter what I tried, she wouldn't let the pain end; she wouldn't allow my suffering to cease. "No! Stop it! ..._Please_!" I begged and pleaded for mercy, but was shown absolutely none. I screamed, cried and sobbed madly, called out for somebody to come and help me—no one came. It hurt _so_ badly! Oh my God—I just couldn't take it! It was too immense, too much for my body to handle. It was so bad that I was almost overcome with waves of nausea and extreme dizziness. And…I could feel everything within me slipping away as she continued to whip me over and over again.

I shut my eyes tightly. I desperately wanted something to hold onto for at least the slightest bit of comfort. I clenched my fists firmly, so much so that my nails dug into the palms and my hands bled. My bones actually shivered from the pain as the feeling shook me to the core. And on top of all this, I was so weak from everything else that'd happened to me. I wasn't strong enough to withstand this torture anymore.

And so, after a few minutes of this unbearable torment, I collapsed, falling nearly unconscious in a pool of my own blood. All I could here was the sounds of the cat-o-nine tails against my delicate flesh and all I could feel was the anguish brought on by the beating as my world finally began to go dark and as I began to slip silently into the black of nothingness. But one more thing took place before my eyes before I fell completely unconscious. As she beat me, I heard the door slam open and a familiar voice shout angrily, "Candy, what the _hell_ do you think you're doing!"

Ken had come, after hearing all the noise. Suddenly, the pain ended, and I saw a flash of colors darting away from me. Candy had taken off, made a run for it, terrified of what the consequences of her _own _actions would be, now that Ken had finally arrived. Ken turned back to me. I could just barely see him, since everything was blurry and growing darker by the second. "Crystal, hold on!" I heard him call to me in a concerned tone, his voice sounding distant to me, before everything faded out and I finally slipped into the unconscious state that'd been pulling at me for the past minute or so…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

I heard angry shouting. It was distant at first—very distant, and then it slowly faded in. after a moment or two, I began to distinguish the voices. Then I began to recognize them. I felt arms around me, a body holding me to it, wracking with sobs and rocking back and forth as it cradled me carefully. Whoever it was had been and still was crying over me.

I opened my eyes, very slowly and very weakly, and let out a soft moan. I felt _so_ weak, and I was in _so_ much pain. I turned my head towards the one holding me. I heard gasps as I moved. "K-Ken…?" I managed weakly before slowly everything going black again and me fading again into oblivion, hearing the startled gasps and exclamations of my friends, my fellow digidestined as they stood around me. They were alive!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

I regained consciousness again a short while after. The first thing I was aware of was someone carrying me, someone with gentle and caring and loving arms and a comforting embrace. Where were we going? More importantly, who was I with? I stirred softly, moaning again quietly. My body moving at all took a lot of effort from me and hurt immensely. I winced in pain, whimpered, and then opened my eyes slowly and turned my head to whoever it was. "Matt…" We were outside—that much I could tell. He was carrying me from Ken's base, I figured.

He looked down at me as I spoke, obviously startled. His eyes widened, and I could see the disbelief, followed by the vast relief. He knelt down where we were, in a small patch of soft grass on the edge of the woods surrounding the base, holding me in that wonderful embrace of his. He peers down at me, examining me. "Guys, she's awake!" he called to people around him. I heard a bunch of relieved sighs and murmuring, and I knew at once that my friends had finally come to save me and that they were alright. I was finally safe!

I sighed as he held me, enjoying the feeling I was getting with him holding me securely like that, despite everything. I felt so weak; I knew what was happening… I was slipping. I knew I wasn't gonna last much longer. And my friends knew it too, though each and every one of them tried to hide it and be strong. Matt held me close, trying to comfort me. He knew how much pain I was in, how much I was suffering. "It's okay, Crys. Everything's gonna be okay." His voice wavered as he spoke, and cracked at the end of this statement. I knew that he was crying. And that's when someone knelt down beside me. I turned my head to see who it was. Ken…and he was crying as well…

"Crystal…?"

"Ken…"

"Crystal," he choked through his sobs, pure compassion and emotion in his voice for once. "I'm sorry. Please, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't mean for you to get hurt this badly. I didn't mean it, Crystal…" His words trailed off and he broke down crying again, the tears falling freely from his eyes.

I smiled up at him, all the negative feelings I had towards him just disappearing, washing away as I weakly and gently reached up, and caressed Ken's check softly. "Oh, Ken," I barely managed to whisper softly and feebly, removing my hand from his cheek and having his hand meet mine halfway to the ground to help me lower mine, and I held his hand caringly. "I knew there was some good in you, somewhere…" I whispered.

I could here everyone crying around me. They all knew that I was about to leave them any second. I smiled up at Ken and then turned back to Matt. "Matt…" I beckoned him to come closer. He leaned forward, crying, and stared into my eyes. We both knew what we wanted to happen then. I tilted my head up slightly, and he leaned into me and kissed me softly, his arms still wrapped around me. Oh, that kiss felt so good. Finally, after all this time, I got to fully express my love for Matt, and him for me.

And then, slowly, with the sounds of everyone crying in the background, I pulled away from the kiss, a frail smile on my lips, though I had tears forming in my eyes, to try and reassure everyone that it'd be alright…somehow…and slowly laid my head down…closing my eyes for one last time…

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A/N: Surprise everyone. I told you that you wouldn't like the ending! (Please don't kill me!) Oh, but wait—it's _still_ not over! (Gasps) There's still one more chapter to go! (Thunderous applause once again) LLD almost killed me for this ending when I first came up with the general idea, but once she warmed up to it, she was helping me write it before I knew it! Thanks, LLD! You're the best! (Applause for LLD). Sorry this chapter took so long. I was having computer issues. Plus, this chapter was rather hard to write. I really hope you like it!

Both Piedmon and LadyLuck: (Open-mouthed stare) 0.o …

Piedmon: 0.o … No…way!

LadyLuck: 0.o … Diva'sDream, don't tell us you actually _killed _poor Crystal! How could you do such a thing!

midnight breezy: (Crying) Why, Diva! _Why!_

Ken: (Open-mouthed stare) 0.o … (Crickets chirp) … Great! I finally look like I'm getting a girl, and she likes Matt! Thanks, you two! (Glares at Diva'sDream and LLD)

LLD: You're welcome! Hehehe… That ending was awesome!

Everyone but Diva'sDream: 0.0 …

Diva'sDream: Now just calm down, everyone. There's still another chapter to go. Who knows? A miracle might happen or something. Although, we're sadistic, so… (Shrugs)

Everyone else besides LLD: _What_ _else can you possibly do!_

LLD: (Evil smile) You'll see… (Insert evil laughter here)

Diva'sDream: (Joins in with her own evil laughter)

Everyone besides Diva'sDream and LLD: 0.0 … (Eerie music, lightning and thunder start up in background)

_Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnn! To be continued…_


	30. Crystal's Death

"_My God, she's dead! I can't believe she's dead!"_ Ken thought to himself, the tears streaming down his cheeks. He was beside himself with grief…with guilt. This was all his fault—that's how he saw it. He's the one who brought Candy there. He's the one who let her close enough to kill Crystal. He's the one who left her alone and unprotected with that woman. It was then that all the things he'd done to her really dawned on him—how horribly he'd treated her, how badly he'd hurt her.

He'd beaten her, starved her, enslaved her, and terrorized her, gotten Candy to give her those awful nightmares to torture her, only knowing that Candy had had some special abilities to do this with and unknowing as to why, though the realization of how she'd accomplished this now dawned on him as well. He'd been the cause of most of the pain she'd suffered through until the end of her days.

"_It's my fault…In a way, I killed Crystal…"_ That's all he could think. He never once thought about Candy, who had run off and disappeared after they came for Crystal, afraid of what Ken would do after finding out that Crystal was dead and Candy had been the one to kill her without Ken's permission. He'd surely kill her, so she fled in fear.

He looked around at everyone's faces—at Crystal, lying dead in Matt's arms, Matt hugging her close and crying into her soft brown hair. He looked at Tai and Kari, Kari crying on Tai's shoulder, Tai trying the hardest he could to be strong for his little sister and the other's which wasn't working very well at all. He looked around at all the others, standing or kneeling by them, crying, trying desperately to comfort one another, which was to no avail. "What have I done…" he muttered softly, but it was unheard by everyone else, who were all too lost in their own grief to notice. Ken buried his face in his hands and wept on his knees, the sorrow almost unbearable.

"Crystal…" Matt whispered in a gentle, shaky voice, wracked with sobs and choked by tears. His mind wandered to thoughts of her back when everything was fine, her happy, smiling face haunting his every thought. Crystal's voice rang in his head, her laugh, and the very sounds of her own sobbing when she'd become upset over something. She was truly beautiful to him. How was he ever to get through this lose? He loved her so… Matt took in the sweet sent of her hair as he sobbed, which always smelled of sweet strawberries. Matt got lost in thought then, thinking about Crystal and all of the good times he'd had with her.

Suddenly, there was a soft sound, like the rustling of bushes. Everyone looked to where the sound came from. "Ken…!" Yolei yelled after the one running in that direction, but it was too late—Ken had gone—consumed by grief and obviously trying to run away from the pain. But what they didn't know is that he had another reason for running. He was determined to avenge Crystal's death—determined to find Candy and make her pay for what she did to Crystal. He just had to find her…

"How dare he just run away like that after what he did!" Tai growled, punching the trunk of a nearby tree in anger. Kari rushed over to him and put comforting arms around him, trying to calm him down. Tai took in a breath and then embraced Kari, sobbing once more. Everyone else just looked around at each other and at Crystal lying there dead in Matt's arms, unsure of what to do or say, and then looked at the spot where Ken had just been. It was beyond them how anyone could just leave after having done such a thing, even a murderer such as the one they thought Ken to be.

It felt as if their entire world had come crashing down around them and their was no way to put the shattered pieces back together. One of their own had fallen, someone they all cared for deeply, and after having been mistreated just horribly and hurt badly, killed by someone they didn't even know. But Ken did…and they all thought that he was the one behind her murder.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

It'd been three days since Crystal's death. The Digidestined had spent the first day weeping over the loss, the second building her a memorial, and today getting ready to bring her back to the real world. They'd spent that entire morning thinking about what they'd say to Crystal's family. What could they say to someone who has just lost someone so close to them and doesn't know why or how? What could possibly be said to comfort them in this terrible time—when, after having lost Crystal once before, they have lost her again…and this time, she won't be coming back?

Plus, what could they say so that the secret of the Digital World would still be safe? They had to think of some good excuse for her death to avoid revealing the secret. The only thing they could think of to tell them is that they ran into a bunch of thugs and she was killed. They'd work on the details more if need be, which they probably would. But, this was the best they could think of at the moment. This would probably be the hardest thing the Digidestined have ever had to do. There was no easy way to do this and they knew it—but they just had to…for Crystal…

And to make things worse, they still had no idea where Ken was. He'd been gone for quite a long time—ever since he'd run off when Crystal died. They didn't know what to make of it—had he been overcome by grief when he'd fled, after realizing just what he'd done? Was he afraid of what they'd do to him? Was he trying to run away from his own guilt, brought on by the murder? They just didn't know. He'd been so upset about it when she died and he'd shown perfectly well how much he really cared for her, and they didn't know why he wouldn't stay for her. Perhaps it was because of the love that Crystal had expressed for Matt and not him. They just couldn't be sure.

"It sure is quiet here without her…" Mimi sighed, her eyes red and swollen from crying like everyone else's. She looked over at Crystal, lying wrapped up in a blanket in front of her memorial. She'd looked as though she were merely sleeping, and it was just so surreal…the fact that, in reality, she was not sleeping…but dead—gone forever. Mimi heaved a heavy sigh, even as TK wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders and rubbed her arm softly. There were times, within those three days, that one of them would look at her and think she was asleep, but then they went to wake her up and remembered the truth—that she wouldn't no matter how hard they tried to awaken her.

"Yeah…she really did know just how to lighten up a conversation. Just her presence filled the area with joy," Joe added to Mimi's comment, wiping an oncoming tear from his eye. He got up from his spot on the ground near a tree and walked over to where Crystal lay. "We'll all miss her, that's for sure." He bent down to touch Crystal's soft cheek, but then hesitated, unable to bring himself to touch her, to feel her icy cold skin and have the cold, cruel reality fully sink in. In fact, none of them touched her. They wrapped her up in a blanket if they needed to move her anywhere, for none of them could even bare the thought of making contact with her lifeless body.

And so, he merely sat next to her, looking over her fair features sorrowfully, thinking about how he'd never see those bright, crystal-blue eyes of hers again, and thinking about just how dull her once shinning light brown curls were now that she was gone. He sighed, thinking about the light that had surrounded her in her life, which had seemed to recede slowly and then completely disappear in her death. She looked just like an angel, which she truly was when she had been alive. How would life ever be without her now?

"Come on, we have to get her back now," Davis said as he held onto Veemon tightly, finding it very difficult to form those words, knowing that they meant that she'd truly be lost to them forever. "Veemon, guys," he said, addressing all the Digimon among them. "Go ahead and say your last goodbyes to her. You can't go to the funeral, so this is your only chance. You know you'd have to act like toys while we're there and we can't bring toys to the funeral service." He sighed then, thinking about what they were about to go through.

Davis set Veemon down then, who was crying by that time. "Go on, buddy." Then, he stood up straight and stood back from everyone else, trying to hide the weakness he was showing. He tried not to let anyone see him cry so he could be strong for them, and so he hid his sadness from everyone. Everyone else was crying. What kind of leader would he be if he became weak too, when he was supposed to be being strong for his team?

And so, the Digimon each took turns saying their goodbyes to Crystal, eventually getting to a point there they'd relayed all of the details of what happened to her and how she died while she lie there, seemingly lifeless. Including saying why they'd taken so long to come and rescue her. The Digidestined had been held captive by some of the Digimon under Ken's control, which was by Ken's orders. They'd been trapped and then held captive, unable to save Crystal. And by the time they'd finally escaped and gotten to her, it was too late.

"Crystal, I know you can't hear me," Rubymon, who was the last to go, started out, barely managing to speak over her sobs as she knelt beside Crystal's body, "but you were the best friend I've ever had. You carried with you so much light and goodness… I just couldn't help but feel great when you were around. You were my partner, Crys, my teammate…and I don't know what I'm gonna do without you… Goodbye, Crystal… I love you…and I'm gonna miss you so much…" Rubymon's words trailed off, then, and she broke down crying, tears streaming from her gleaming ruby-colored eyes. Cody picked her up and held her, holding her close. Rubymon wept on his shoulder, overcome with grief. She'd lost her best friend…one of her only friends. What would she do now?

"Come on…we should take her back now to the real world…to her family…" Izzy said softly, bringing everyone back to reality. Slowly, very slowly…they packed up everything and then made a makeshift stretcher to carry Crystal to the real world. Everyone was really quiet as they did this—not much could be said at that moment. Plus, most were too upset to do anything other than cry. "Is that everything?" Izzy finally asked everyone after they were all packed and ready to go. Everyone else nodded wordlessly, a couple of them sighing a depressed sigh and still others glancing at Crystal as she lie on the stretcher, and the Digimon stood back to watch them leave, many of whom trying desperately to hold back or to hide the tears that were in their eyes.

Quietly, Davis took out his digivice. He looked at it for a second or two, getting lost in thought momentarily. He then shook his head to bring himself back to reality, realizing he'd gotten lost within his own mind, his own thoughts. "Alright then. See you guys later. We'll be back as soon as we can…sometime after the funeral." Emitting a depressed sigh then, and wiping a tear from his eye, he turned to the portal and got ready to open it. "Digiport op—"

"Nightmare Shards!"

Before they knew what'd hit them, small explosions were sounding all around them, as odd shards of what looked as though it were glass rained down upon them. A couple screamed, some gasped, and everyone looked up to see who had caused the blast. Standing on the large branch of a tree and glaring down at them, was someone they'd hoped to never see again. "You!" Sora shouted angrily up at Candy, the one who'd murdered Crystal. "You're a Digimon!"

Candy merely laughed cruelly. "Yes, me." She then jumped down from the tree branch onto the ground in front of them, landing on her feet gracefully and perfectly. She spotted Crystal lying on the ground at everyone's feet, and smiled a bit sadistically as the Digidestined moved in close to protect her and shield her from Candy. "And yes, I'm a Digimon. The name's Candymon." At this, the woman made a mocking, incredibly theatrical bow to them, and then smirked at them maliciously. And then, the upper half of her body stayed the same, but the lower half shifted as she turned back into her true Digimon form.

Candymon? More like the sluttiest Digimon any of them had ever seen in their lives! And one of the weirdest, to be honest. From the waist up, she looked like a normal human, except very slutty. Long auburn waves of hair framing her face, _a lot_ of makeup, lots of jewelry, red nail polish on long and sharp nails, an incredibly low-cut corset top with spaghetti straps—the works. And, oddly, she had bandages tied around her wrists and up her arms a bit loosely, hanging off of them a bit.

And from the waist down…the legs and lower-half of a spider…with bandages wrapped loosely around and hanging off of the legs! Wait! …A spider…and bandages…? Come to think of it, ya know, she _did_ look an awful lot like and remind them an awful lot of… "Wait a second! …You're related to Arukenimon and Mummymon!"

Another cruel laugh was emitted from the Digimon as she sneered at the one who'd said that, Kari. Her eyes glinted with a kind of sadistic pleasure as she walked towards them, stopping when she was merely a couple of yards away. "Yes, dear," she said, placing a hand on her hip, "that's right. Too bad for you that I'm a bit more dangerous than Mommy and Daddy Dearest." (Me: _Mommy and Daddy!_ (Cringes) Ugh, again, that's just wrong on _so_ many levels!) Kari simply glared at Candy and stood her ground next to Tai, quite angry with the woman that killed Crystal. Candy chuckled again. "Hmm…I didn't really expect you to be too fond of me. What's wrong? Upset that I killed your little friend?"

"Shut up!" TK and Izzy quickly rushed to Matt and grabbed his arms to stop him from attacking Candy after that sudden outburst. Matt struggled against them, growling, furious and wanting _so_ badly to kill her…to rip her to shreds for what she'd done to Crystal. And who could blame him? Still, though, they couldn't allow him to do it.

(Me: Damn that sucks! That woulda been so cool to watch!

LLD: Well _you're_ the author! You can make that happen, ya know!

Me: (Looks around) …So…?)

"But why, my darling? After all, the little brat deserved it!" Deserved it? How the hell did she deserve anything that Ken and Candy ever did to her? What had Crystal ever done to deserve such torture and then finally such a horrendous death at the hands of Candy? Just how arrogant can this woman possibly get within a five-minute time period? Ok, yeah, true…this _was_ the daughter of none other than Arukenimon and Mummymon—two of the most self-centered, egotistical Digimon in the entire Digital World—but still…!

"She didn't deserve any of the hell you all put her through and you know that, you bitch!" Matt was obviously fuming mad by then, still struggling to get out of Izzy's and TK's grasps. Izzy and TK were definitely having trouble holding onto him. He was really strong and really angry and determined to get to Crystal's killer and tear her limb from limb, which he probably would try to do if they didn't keep a hold of him.

(LLD: (Chanting) Let him go! Let him go! Let him go!

Me: Shut up, LLD!

LLD: (Sticks her tongue out at me))

Another spiteful laugh and then… "You weak, pathetic boy! Your emotions have inhibited your common sense and your judgment. Even if they _did_ let you _try_, do you actually think that you can _beat me_? I am a powerful Ultimate, and you…you are just a frail human! You could never amount to anything compared to _my_ power!" (Me: Gee, cocky little bitch, ain't she?)

"Power my ass!" Matt suddenly growled, breaking free from his friends' grips. Despite the cries of protest from the other Digidestined, Matt charged Candy with a yell, tackling her roughly off of her feet before she had time to react. She landed hard on the ground and then just sat there a second, in complete shock. She sure as hell hadn't been expecting to be attacked by one of these…these _children_! After a second, she looked up at him, glaring down at her with clenched fists. Perhaps she'd underestimated him and the others just a tad. They may very well have been more powerful that Candy had originally accounted for. This could very well prove to be a challenge, but then again…Candy had always loved a challenge.

She then got up, returning his glare. "Very good, boy, but let's see how you deal with this!" Before any of them could react, she'd dropkicked him and sent him sprawling on the ground. Everyone else tried to run to him, but one attack from Candymon's Nightmare Shards sent them all to the ground for cover. Then, while they were all distracted trying to regain their senses and detach their clothes from the ground, she pointed a finger at Matt, who was trying to recover from the fall. "You!" she got his attention with a powerful voice, "say your prayers!" And with that, she readied her attack. Cries of "no!" and "don't do it!" could be heard, but she paid them all no mind. "Nightmare—"

"Silk Thread!"

Candymon let out a scream as she was suddenly attacked, covering her face with her arms and taking a few quick steps back in surprise. Most people gasped or cried out, and everyone looked to see where it had come from. Everyone knew very well who it was, having heard and seen that attack before. The Digidestined weren't quite sure whether to be happy or angry or what about seeing them, and Candymon was terrified at the sight of _him_. Most of the Digidestined had their mouths open or their eyes wide in shock. Yolei cried out to them in disbelief, hardly able to comprehend the fact that he'd come back for her to try and make amends for the things he'd done, "Ken! Wormmon!"

Ken and Wormmon hurried over to where everyone else was, putting a barrier between Matt and Candymon primarily. One could've sworn that Ken was back to normal, but no. It was still the Digimon Emperor, just on the side of the other Digidestined for once—at least…for now. "We're here," Ken replied to the other Digidestined, not once taking his eyes off of Candymon. "Candy, you should've kept running from me while you had the opportunity!" He was clearly fuming mad—you could _definitely_ see the fire blazing in Ken's eyes. It was a rare sight indeed to see him this angry, but it had finally happened thanks to Candy. It was definitely a scary sight, though, seeing him that mad at someone. Just be glad it's not you he's mad at! She should've gotten away while she had the chance to escape from him and get out of there while she could.

Now, Ken was gonna get revenge for what happened to Crystal, and for Candy making him do all of those things and doing all of those things to him—convincing him to agreeing to let Candy give Crystal those nightmares, making him belief that she loved him when she was only sent there by her mother and father to make sure Ken remained evil and didn't convert (A/N: Just go with it!), tormenting Crystal and beating her way worse than he ever did, and then finally killing her. Oh yes, Ken was out for revenge, alright. And he was determined to get it—dead-set on this victory.

"You think you frighten me, little boy?" Candy taunted him nastily, now that she'd had time to recover from everything and get her act together. She narrowed her eyes at him, the same chilling eyes as Arukenimon. "Hmm! I'm not scared of you at all!" (Me: Yeah, right! (Rolls eyes) Is _that_ why you were running from him earlier, why you decided to get the hell outta there after he found out that you'd killed Crystal? Hmm…?)

"You should be!" Ken's voice was deadly serious. It was something that even made Wormmon shiver at the sound of—Ken's barely _ever_ heard or even _used_ "I'm-Gonna-Kill-You" voice. And he had the deathly and icy glare to match. He looked as though he could kill at any second, which probably wasn't that far from the truth at the moment, to tell you the truth. (Me: (Shivers) …Can you even imagine a look like that coming from him—angrier than you've _ever_ seen him before? ...Yikes! …Ok, now _that's _a scary thought!)

"Oh, I'm _so _scared," Candymon taunted him, her sarcastic voice dripping with venom as she continued to glare at him. "Alright, enough talk! Let's get this over with… Nightmare Shard!" Suddenly, the deadly crystalline shard came rushing at Ken at incredible speed, so fast that he had no time to get out of the way and would surely be hit. That is, were it not for…

"Rosetta Stone!"

There was an explosion. Ken, who had shielded his face with his arms, looked up to find Nefertimon above him, protecting him from the attack. Quite frankly, Ken couldn't believe that they were actually protecting him after what he had done and after how angry they'd been at him before. But, he'd investigate that later—for now, he had a fight to win. "Wormmon!"

"Right!" the little caterpillar Digimon said confidently with a nod, and then leapt into action. "Wormmon digivolve to…Stingmon!" There was a bright flash of light, which engulfed the tiny Digimon. And then, just like that, standing where Wormmon had been, Stingmon now stood. "Candymon, give up while you still have a chance!"

"Ha! Never!" came Candymon's reply. And, with that, she leapt at Stingmon. Candy was definitely not one to just give up on a fight, even a hopeless one like this seemed to be for her. She was determined to win, determined to claim the victory in this battle. (Me: (Laughs) ...Kinda like me in one of my stubborn modes, huh?) The battle raged and seethed. Explosions sounded everywhere and popped up everywhere you turned, things flew in all directions, people were yelling and screaming, and wounds were being inflicted upon both sides of the battle. No one knew exactly how long it lasted, they guessed only for about a few minutes. But one thing's for certain—it quickly drew to a close as the last and most major event of the night came into play…

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Listen, Candy, why don't you just give up already so no one has to get hurt anymore?" Mimi tried coaxing the Digimon—who, to be perfectly honest, was the only one with any serious injuries around their. Everyone else had either been hit with a minor injury or had not been hit at all. Either way, Candy was loosing this battle, but was just either too stubborn or too dumb to notice it—probably a little bit of both, come to think of it. The others had reassured Ken that they'd be fine without him and that he should stay by Crystal and protect her, and so that's what he did, kneeling down next to her and shielding her from everything, even crying over her but refusing to touch her.

"Not a chance! Not while I'm so close to victory!" (Me: A little delusional, aren't we, Candy?) Candymon was pretty banged up and bloody, but still wanted to continue. She was evidently absolutely relentless in her quest. It was really irritating, but she's gotta be given credit for determination, at least. She clearly has not shortage of _that_! Her ego was pretty big. But ya know what they say—the bigger they are, the harder they fall on their mega-sized digi-asses!

Meanwhile, Ken was holding tightly to Crystal, wrapped in her blanket, and weeping. "Oh Crystal, I'm so sorry about all this…" he whispered softly, his words choked by his sobs. The tears blurred his vision, plus he was completely zoned out thinking about Crystal, and so Ken didn't see most of what was going on. This wasn't very good, considering what happened next. An angry cry could be heard near by. Ken gasped and turned his head quickly towards the sound, only to find Candy charging at him and Crystal, a sword in her hands. He had no time to move or defend them or react in any way. All he could do was hold her close and shut his eyes tight, awaiting their doom.

"Celestial Arrow!"

Ken couldn't believe his luck. He looked up as he heard the attack and then an anguished scream from Candy, and found a sight that left him in shock and absolutely speechless. Candy was pinned to a tree by an arrow, burning like hell because of the light of the angel Digimon's powers conquering the darkness in her heart and soul. (Me: Wow, kinda InuYasha-ish, isn't it?) She was evaporating away into nothing, and all of the Digidestined and other Digimon just stood there and stared in awe at the sight. Pretty soon, with another scream of agony, Candy had evaporated and then completely disappeared, defeated. A moment of silence passed, in which, no one spoke, but merely stared at the spot where Candy had once been in total amazement and shock. Then, all at once, they stared at once another and then started cheering and jumping around in victory, hugging each other in a congratulatory way and things like that.

While all of this was going on, Ken was staring at Crystal in complete wide-eyed shock, hardly unable to believe what he'd just discovered. It couldn't be…could it? It was impossible! Impossible! It simply _was not _humanly possible for something like this to actually be true! Ken had watched Crystal die himself! Hadn't he! And if he had, then how could it have actually been possible that she was…that…that…Crystal…was…?

Tai heard a rustling in the bushes near by, and looked just in time to realize what was happening. His eyes widened and he gasped in terror. "_No!_" he cried. "_Crystal!_" But it was too late—Ken had disappeared into the night…with Crystal. He scrambled to the edge of the clearing they were in, to the shrubs where they'd disappeared. But, Ken was gone…and so was Crystal. "Damn it!" Tai growled, enraged as he kicked the shrubs and then a nearby tree. (Me: Damn, Tai, what is it with you and abusing the local plant life? (Insert all my readers telling me to shut the hell up already and duct-taping my mouth shut here)) As before, Kari immediately went to him and put a hand on his arm, trying to get him to calm down. Tai looked at her for a second, tears streaming down his cheeks. After a few seconds, he buried his face in Kari's shoulder, and they held each other close.

Everyone else just stared in horrified silence at the area, unable to comprehend any of this. But in their hearts, they knew it was true. Crystal was gone… Ken had taken her to God-only-knows-where. Oh no, this was terrible! What the hell were they gonna do now? They couldn't just let her go…let him take her. They _had _to help her, they just had to! But how…? They didn't even know where he'd gone at all. How were they going to find her and rescue her if they didn't know where she'd been taken or which way they were headed? "Don't worry guys, we'll do something," Joe tried to assure everyone, although he looked pretty depressed himself.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

And so, the Digidestined all went back to the real world, looking very sad. They actually took their Digimon with them because there wasn't going to be a funeral…just yet…as well as for moral support. Back at their houses, they basically avoided their families for the rest of the night, sitting alone in their rooms thinking. Pretty much the only time they had any contact with their families for that night was when they sat down to dinner. They'd eat very slowly, or just sit there, staring at their food, or pushing it around on their plates with their silverware. And when their parents would ask them what was wrong, all they did was temporarily come out of their trance-like states and say something like "What…? Huh…? Oh…yeah… Nothing… I'm fine…" or something to that degree. And then, they'd sigh and retire to their rooms silently for the night.

"Crystal…I know you can't here me…but...I know you're out there…somewhere… So please…wherever you are…please stay safe… I love you…" Matt whispered quietly, praying near his bed. He sighed and looked over at Rubymon, who had finally cried herself to sleep at the foot of his bed. He'd taken the responsibility of keeping her safe, and had spent a good half-hour or so trying to calm her down and comfort her. She'd finally fallen asleep, and now he was about to do the same, completely exhausted and drained from being so upset, as well as everything else that'd happened.

After finishing up the prayer, he slowly climbed into bed and got all tucked in. As he lay there, about to fall asleep, he sighed one more time and stared at the full moon outside his window, and thought for a while. Then, as he finally slid into a fitful sleep, as a solitary tear rolled down his cheek and then fell from his face, his mind whispered softly, _"Crystal…"_

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

A/N: (Crying) That was…the most beautiful…ending LLD and I have ever written…!

LLD: I guess that'll explain why Ken's not here at the moment…

Piedmon, LadyLuck, and midnight breezy: 0.o …

Piedmon: That's it? You're just gonna end it there!

midnight breezy: Nooooooo!

LadyLuck: But what the hell happened? Where's Ken and why did he take Crystal? What was he talking about? Is she okay? (Shaking me by the shoulders) What's going on!

LLD: (Laughing) You'll have to wait and find out in the sequel, which I'm writing! (Insert evil laughter here)

All the rest of us: 0.o …

LLD: What!

LadyLuck: Aw, crap! We have to wait?

Piedmon and midnight breezy: There's gonna be a sequel? Holy crap, yeah! (Jumps up and down excitedly and cheers)

Yep, and you do have to wait 'til Lady of Life and Death here, (Gestures to LLD smiling evilly) writes it and posts it up in her account to read it.

Piedmon, LadyLuck, and midnight breezy: Awwwww….

LLD: Sorry peoples, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Mmmmm…Cookies… (Drools)

LLD: (Snaps fingers) Snap out of it, Diva!

(Shakes head) Huh? (Wakes up and notices everyone else staring at me) Oh, uh…hi, guys! (Flashes everyone a cheesy smile)

midnight breezy: Ok… So, tell us about the sequel!

Piedmon and LadyLuck: (Nods heads excitedly) Yeah!

LLD: (Laughs evilly) Ask Diva, I'm not telling you anything! All I'll say is that Ken has a twin!

Everyone else but LLD and me: (Turns to me with the puppy dog eyes) Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaase…?

Weeeeeelllll… And people, just GO with the twin idea for now! (Acts like I'm thinking about it and looks at LLD, who nods) Alright…

Everyone but LLD and me: YAY! (Cheers)

LLD: Alright, here's a little preview to my story, "Forgiveness", for ya… (Everyone else cheers)

(Calls out in a big voice) Presenting, ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure, a little snippet from the "Betrayal" sequel, "Forgiveness"…! (More cheers as the preview starts) …

-"C'mon, Wormmon! We're almost there!"

-"What's going on, Ken?"

-"Just c'mon! we're almost there!"

-"Ken, what happened!"

-"She's alive, Wormmon! I felt her body—it was warm! She's not dead; she's just stuck in a comatose state! Crystal's alive!"

…Well, there ya have it.

Everyone except me and LLD: What? That's all you're giving us!

LLD and me: (Pauses for a second) Yep!

Everyone else: (Starts crying and LLD laughs at them)

So, be sure to watch for the sequel everyone! It'll come as soon as LLD gets to it! Bye! (Waves)


End file.
